Digimon Immaculate Genocide
by I Hate To See Your Heart Break
Summary: In America, where DATS Inc. has created digimon clones to serve humans, two groups of teenagers suddenly find themselves partnered with real digimon! As they clash and learn surprising things about digimon and each other, as well as their own selves, everything they once held as true comes into question. Even the black-and-white nature of dark and light. Read and review, please!
1. Chapter I: The Reluctant Heroine

_**A/N: **_Hello and welcome to Digimon Immaculate Genocide. This story takes place after the events of Digimon Data Squad/Digimon Savers, though it isn't really necessary to have watched the series in order to understand these events. As a matter of fact, hearing that this takes place in the same world may shock you and leave you a bit disbelieving as the story continues, but please bear with me! You should understand that all will be explained in due time.

I have endeavored to combine my favorite elements of Adventure, Adventure 02, Tamers, Frontier and Data Squad. So not be surprised if you encounter a combination of Japanese and English terms, as I prefer some over others. Additionally, I plan to bring new elements into the table, and the themes will of course be much darker at times than the anime ever had.

All in all, I hope you all enjoy! Please review

Rated T for mild language, some violence, and mature themes.

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**Part I: The Digital Clones**

**Chapter I: The Reluctant Heroine**

* * *

"DATS Inc. has announced it is coming out with a new line of digimon clones. They are calling this new line the "Champion level" line. At first, these stronger, larger digimon will only be available to companies and organizations, in part due to the necessary beta-testing that must be conducted with trained personnel on hand, but also in part due to their higher cost. More on this subject at 8."

Cassandra frowned as their Agumon passed by in front of the TV, broom in hand and usual emotionless expression on its face. She heard her mother call Agumon's name, and it suddenly stopped dead before shuffling into the kitchen. Cassandra grabbed the remote off the couch, turned the TV off, and headed upstairs. She knew she should be getting to her homework, and thought of this as she headed upstairs.

Upon reaching the top of the stairs, Cassandra opened her door gently, went inside, and closed it gently, weary of waking her sleeping mother. She headed straight to her bed, where her laptop sat opened. The screen darkened all of her features considerably, including her slightly dark brown hair, light brown eyes and her glasses. As she turned the laptop on, she looked around her bedroom. A _Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II_ poster of Hermione Granger, a poster of _A Very Potter Senior Year_ signed by Meredith Stepien, a signed poster of Mary Lambert's EP _Letters Don't Talk_, a poster of Paramore lead singer Hayley Williams, and her full-to-bursting book shelf came into view. She turned back to her laptop as the login screen came on. Quickly typing in her password, Cassandra turned towards her cellphone to check for messages.

To her surprise, a bright white light was emitting from her phone, which was charging on her desk. As she slowly approached it, she noticed it looked completely different than her own, and her charger had disappeared. It was red and perfectly rectangular, had a circular button on the bottom center, and the bright white screen read "iDigivice" in black block letters. There was a button on the top at the left, and three buttons along the left side of the device. There was also a front-facing camera and what looked like a long oval-shaped speaker above the screen.

The screen turned grey, and then the apps appeared. There was a weather widget at the top, below the time and battery and such, and below it were six apps, three apps each in two rows. These apps were labeled "Messages", "Calls", "Maps", "Settings", "Calendar", "Camera", "Locator" and "Music". A gray line separated the very last app, at the bottom of the screen. Centered, the profile of a blue, roaring Agumon stood in front of a black "D" in a cyan background. This app was labeled "Digivolution".

As Cassandra was pondering whether or not to pick it up, the white light reappeared. A small white oval about the size of a chicken egg rose out of the screen, and as it floated up, it grew in size. The egg floated to the side and down to rest next to the device. As the glow of the screen faded, the color faded onto the egg. The egg became pink with several white hearts on it. When the light completely disappeared and the egg landed softly onto her desk, it promptly proceeded to roll off the desk.

Cassandra leapt forward and caught it in her hands, hitting her chin in the floor, hurting her chest, and almost knocking her head against the leg of the desk. She groaned as she pulled herself up onto her elbows. She crossed her legs as she sat down and set the egg between her legs, hands never letting go of it. It was very warm and the hearts seemed to softly glow white.

'_What... is this?'_

It was easily the size of a basketball and she immediately thought of a large man living in a cabin near a castle that was a school for young wizards, who had a fancy for incredible and dangerous creatures. She wondered if a dragon could be inside the egg, though with the pink and the hearts, it seemed unlikely.

She looked up. The desk rose above her head, though her stature of 5 feet exactly at, as of today, sixteen years old was easy to outdo. She wondered at the device that sat on its surface, but decided to deal with the egg first. Cassandra carefully stood up and set the egg down on her bed. It leaned to the side, and the girl spent a good minute laboring with it until it sat upright. She turned back to her desk and stared down at the device. It had gone dark. Cassandra looked around her desk before her eyes fell on her pencil cup. She picked up her ruler from within the cup, stood as far back as the 12 inches and her arm's reach would allow her, and used one corner to press the round button.

The screen lit up white. "iDigivice" appeared at the top, and "Cassandra Acosta" appeared directly under it. At the very center of the screen was a large black fingerprint and a black arrow pointing down to the button at the bottom of the device. "Press the Home button!" flashed right above the arrow. Curious, Cassandra pressed the button with her right index finger, and watched as the black fingerprint slowly turned red, starting from the top and moving down to the bottom, as if performing a scan. "Fingerprint accepted!" replaced the previous command above the arrow before the screen changed back to the Home screen with the apps.

Cassandra gaped in disbelief. How could it possibly be able to recognize her fingerprint? She had never touched it before! Or did it record her fingerprint for the first time, for future use? She took several steps back as a million thoughts ran through her head, and bumped into her bed. She turned around and looked down at the mysterious egg. What an odd birthday this was turning out to be. Or was this a back-to-school gift from some mysterious force?

Behind her, the iDigivice began to glow pure white once more, and an app turned on all of its own: "Digivolution". On the screen was on image of the egg that had presented itself to Cassandra. A large crack suddenly broke through the shell of the egg on her bed with such force and speed that it frightened Cassandra, her heart responding by skipping a beat. She flinched and winced as she felt a sudden pain and heavy beating of her heart and watched as more cracks tore through the egg. From every crack, bright white light shone. After a few cracks, the light became blinding, and Cassandra was forced to look away. When it died down after several more cracks, Cassandra turned back to look down at her bed. In the place of the egg was an orange sun about the size of a melon, with seven rays and big black eyes, a bright smile and a flame flickering atop its head.

"Hi! I'm Sunmon!"

Cassandra stared in disbelief. This had to be a digimon, but it was nothing like the clones she was used to dealing with. Its—his?—eyes were full of life and happiness, with a bright smile and even spoke! Sunmon was also rather small compared to the digimon she was familiar with, of the line known as "Rookie". Cassandra was, of course, aware that real digimon existed, but only DATS Inc. members were paired with them, who defended the people in the case of digimon malfunctioning and wreaking havoc. The clones' immense usefulness and DATS' reputation in Japan—Masaru, Tohma, Yoshino, and Ikuto saved the entire world!—has convinced the government that the risk the digimon clones posed was small enough and well worth it.

"What's your name?"

Cassandra returned her attention to the creature, unsure if she should answer. Should she contact DATS?

"What are you?"

Sunmon frowned, pouting slightly, and it tugged at Cassandra's heartstrings.

"I'm a digimon. Do you… do you hate me?"

"No, no, of course not! It's just… you just appeared out of a… phone, is it?"

"What's a _phone_? Can I see one?"

Cassandra looked to her desk, staring at the red iDigivice and wondering if she should touch it. Sunmon floated into her scope of view, making his way towards the desk. Cassandra also fell as she rushed towards her desk, picking up the iDigivice and starting at its dark screen. She again pressed the button and supplies her fingerprint, receiving a "Fingerprint accepted!" Almost immediately, the Home screen changed as a black background with a light blue pattern something like that of a data board. At the top, a box contained "Sunmon". Below that and to the right, a picture of the creature was displayed. To the left of it, five boxes: "Level: In-Training", "Species: Virus Buster", "Attacks: Starlight", "Field: Holy" and "Attribute: Light". Below this was one final box: "Its body has taken on the form of the Sun, and its head is like a flame. It has a bright personality and floats around in the air."

Belen looked up at Sunmon, who was roaming around her room, observing everything and asking questions a mile a minute. Belen laughed at his excitement, and turned back to her laptop and homework as he continued to question her.

'_But how am I gonna hide Sunmon? Oh, wow, I've accepted him into my life already… that was fast. Sunmon is just too sweet and energetic, though. I couldn't shoo him away. It looks like I've made a new friend.'_

A bright light bounced off her laptop, and the "Digivolution" app opened again.

"Sunmon digivolve to… Coronamon!"

Suddenly, a completely different creature. He was now a bipedal lion, with something resembling a diadem aflame on his head, similar bracelets, a tail with a flame at its end, and bright blue eyes that stared into Cassandra's brown ones as it smiled happily.

She looked to the iDigivice, which now read, "Coronamon", "Level: Rookie", "Species: Virus Buster", "Attacks: Corona Knuckle, Corona Flame, Petit Prominence", "Field: Holy" and "Attribute: Light". Finally, there was: "It was born from the fusion of sun-watching data. It has an innocent personality due to its sense of justice and is powerfully courageous."

'_It's gonna be a lot harder to hide you now.'_


	2. Chapter II: The Twins

**A/N:** If you're having trouble imagining Connor's appearance, just think Nagisa from Free! Hahaha.

Soon, as in probably some time in July, I will put some links in my profile of what the human characters all look like. I've gotta wait 'til I can make the commissions happen. However, I do have a link of what the Digimon Dictionary looks like, as well as the iDigivice, and that is on my profile now. Additionally, iDigivices will be revealed on my profile as the characters are introduced.

* * *

**Part I: The Digital Clones**

**Chapter II: The Twins**

* * *

"Hey kid! Unless you're getting off at the next stop, this is a two zone ride!"

Connor's head shot up and his cheeks heated up. He scrambled to his feet and dug deep into his pocket for coins. A one zone ride was $1.50 and a two zone ride was $2.35... How much extra did he have to pay?

"I'm really sorry sir but I swear I had no idea but, um, how much more is it, uh, let's see, two quarters makes it two dollars and then here's another quarter so I just need a dime and, oh, here are two nickels, well, um, sir, again, I'm really sorry, but I totally didn't mean for this to happen but from now on I know."

All in one breath and with a face as red as a tomato.

The bus driver gaped ahead as he drove, surprised by the five and a half foot, ginger teenage boy in front of him as he mumbled his apologies with head bowed, sounding very much like a little boy. He used the mirror above him to watch Connor as he walked back to his seat. He plugged his headphones back in his ears and played nervously with his fingers. A look of complete and utter guilt colored his cheeks pink.

Connor got off ten stops later, making sure to use the front door and apologize one last time. The bus driver smiled and waved, and upon seeing that act of good will, Connor was all smiles. The driver chuckled to himself as he swung the doors and drove off.

'_Good luck, kid,'_ he thought.

Connor jogged up the block to his house, a paper shopping bag in hand. He ran up the stairs, walked past the side of his house, and past the fence into the backyard. He quickly made his way up the wooden stairs onto the deck and used the back sliding door to enter his home. Immediately in front of him was the hallway of doors, and to the left was the door to the bathroom. He flung the door open and scrambled to take off his t-shirt and change into the button-up shirt he had just bought. He brushed his teeth, ruffled his hair to perfection and grinned in the mirror.

He left his t-shirt on the floor, flung the door open and jogged through the hallway. He opened the door to the living room with a big smile, but as his eyes swept across the room, it shrunk into a sad frown. His mother had her back turned to him. His twin brother Raymond—with his gel-less black mohawk parted to the left side of his face, red converse sneakers on his feet, black dress pants, black blazer and plain white t-shirt—had on a party hat and had a blowout in his mouth, lazily furling and unfurling as he breathed.

"Nobody came," Connor breathed sadly.

"I'm sorry boys," his mother said in Tagalog.

"I told him this would happen," Raymond responded, twirling the blowout in his fingers, "None of 'friends' are the kind that would hang out with him outside of school hours."

"Maybe you're right," Connor mumbled as he sat down next to his brother at the kitchen counter.

Their mother looked between the two very different boys and sighed.

"Once your father gets here, we can celebrate together."

"That good-for-nothing—" started Raymond.

"Don't say that about him!" Conner snapped.

"He'd be here already if he wasn't always _'away doing business'_."

"Dad works hard for us!"

"Philip lies to us! I don't know why you won't listen. He drinks away his money, except when he's paying some woman to suck his—"

"Raymond!" his mother called in alarm. The boys looked up and saw the pain in her eyes, but had different ideas of its source.

'_The truth hurts, I know,'_ Raymond thought.

'_Can't Raymond restrain himself?' _thought Connor.

"Whatever. I'm going to my room."

Raymond quickly made his way to the hallway, Connor hot on his heels.

"It's our room! And don't you run away after hurting mama and disrespecting papa in front of mama like that, RayRay."

"Don't call me that!"

Raymond hurried into their small room, climbed up the ladder onto the top bunk and flopped down onto his carefully made bed. He stared down at the mess on their floor as Connor, its maker, walked in. He avoided his twin's gaze, knowing they would both just glare at each other forever.

When Raymond finally stole a glance at Connor, was starting down at his phone which, to their surprise, was emitting a bright white light. Raymond jumped off the bed and reached into his own pocket for his phone because it had started to do the same. What he retrieved looked completely different from his own phone. It was black and perfectly rectangular, had a circular button on the bottom center, and the bright white screen read "iDigivice" in black block letters. There was a button on the top at the left, and three buttons along the left side of the device. There was also a front-facing camera and what looked like a long oval-shaped speaker. He leaned over to see his brother's, which was orange instead of black, but of the same exact design.

The screen turned grey, and then the apps appeared. What caught his eye was the very last app, which was centered and at the bottom of the screen. The profile of a blue, roaring Agumon stood in front of a black D in a cyan background. This app was labeled "Digivolution". Did this have something to do with the digimon clones? His family wouldn't be able to afford those little personal helpers he saw advertised everywhere until their mother got her Christmas bonus. Still, everyone was familiar with them.

The white light reappeared, and Raymond dropped the device in alarm. A small white oval about the size of a chicken egg rose out of the screen, and as it floated up, it grew in size. The egg floated to the side and down to rest next to the device. As the glow of the screen faded, the color faded onto the egg. It became black with dark purple swirls on it, and felt strangely cold. When the light completely disappeared, the egg stopped floating, and Raymond reached forward to catch it out of reflex. He looked over to Connor, who still had his device in hand. In the other, he held the dark green egg, which had a pattern of several light green leaves on it.

"What the _fuck_ is going on!" Raymond asked.

"RayRay! Language!"

Raymond scoffed and grabbed the basketball sized egg by one arm so he could bend down and picked up the device. It had gone dark.

Raymond pressed the round button at the bottom of the device, and Connor watched. The screen lit up white. "iDigivice" appeared at the top, and "Raymond Calubayan" appeared under it. At the very center of the screen was a large black fingerprint and a black arrow pointing down to the button at the bottom of the device. "Press the Home button!" flashed right above the arrow.

"Connor, does yours say the same thing"

"Mmm? Lemme see... Yeah. It says my name, not yours, though."

"We'll duh. Try the fingerprint thing."

The boys pressed the button with their right index fingers, and watched as the black fingerprint slowly changed color: a dark grey for Raymond and dark green for Connor, starting from the top and moving down to the bottom. "Fingerprint accepted!" replaced the previous command above the arrow before the screen changed back to the Home screen with the apps.

"Ray, this has got to be demonic! What have you been up to?!"

"I haven't done a single thing, Connor! We gotta just get rid of this stuff, is all. Maybe drive to a dump. Though it might—"

The iDigivices began to glow pure white once more, and an app turned on all of its own: "Digivolution". A large crack suddenly broke through the shell of the eggs with such force and speed that it frightened the two, and they almost dropped them. Raymond quickly put the egg on his bed as his heart responded by skipping a beat. Connor did the same with his egg, and he flinched and winced as he felt a sudden pain and heavy beating of his heart and watched as more cracks tore through the egg, while Raymond didn't let the small pain show. From every crack, bright white light shone. After several cracks, the light became blinding, and the brothers were forced to look away.

When it died down, they turned back to look. In the place of the eggs were strange creatures. On Raymond's bed was a grey jellyfish with two ears, a single orange eye, no eyelashes, and no mouth or nose. On Connor's was a round, light green creature with big eyes and a small pink pacifier in its mouth, as well as a large leaf on a long stalk as what seemed like a tail.

"Kuramon, at your service, master."

"My name's Leafmon! I wanna be your best friend!"

Raymond stared into the eye of the small creature, a chill running down his spine as fear consumed him. What was this thing?! Where did it come from?! And how would he convince anyone he hadn't stolen it?!

Connor squealed from pure joy and lunged towards the living plant, hugging the creature tightly. He wormed his way to a sitting position and placed the green creature on his lap, which had been giggling the entire time.

"Connor, don't touch that thing! You called it a demon a second ago!"

"But it's sooooo cute! Nothing this adorable could be demonic. I mean, it's got a pink pacifier in its... her... mouth! Oh, um, wait. What did you say your name was?"

"Leafmon! What's your name?"

"Connor."

"Just shut up!" Raymond yelled, and began to think. This was a very big problem indeed. They had to get rid of these creatures somehow. He wondered if these were digimon clones, though he had never seen any so small. In that case, the best course of action would be to turn them over to DATS Inc, along with the strange devices.

He looked down at the iDigivice and stared at its dark screen. He again pressed the button and supplied his fingerprint, receiving a "Fingerprint accepted!" Almost immediately, the Home screen changed as a black background with a light blue pattern something like that of a data board. At the top, a box contained "Kuramon". Below that and to the right, a picture of the creature was displayed. To the left of it, five boxes: "Level: In-Training", "Species: Nightmare Soldier", "Attacks: Glare Eyes", "Field: Darkness" and "Attribute: Dark". Below this was one final box: "An Unidentified Digimon that suddenly appeared on the Computer Network. It multiplies like a virus, causing a slight degree of network failure."

The screen quickly changed.

"Leafmon". Below that and to the right, a picture of the creature was displayed. To the left of it, five boxes: "Level: In-Training", "Species: Jungle Troopers", "Attacks: Acidic Bubbles", "Field: Insect-Plant" and "Attribute: Thunder". Below this was one final box: "It has many of the elements of a plant, including chlorophyll, so it photosynthesizes to grow. The leaf-shaped tail protects it from intense sunlight or when it is raining."

He turned to look up at Kuramon, catching Connor rubbing his cheek against Leafmon's in fits of giggles. Kuramon stared back, her eyes oddly expressive. They seemed to be taking in everything about Ray.

"Master, I hope we can come to get along well soon. I won't let you down, sir."

Ray smiled, and soon found himself petting the creature, whose eyes closed and almost seemed to blush, as if smiling.

"Please, call me Raymond."

Suddenly, a dark orb surrounded the digimon, and Connor quickly closed his eyes as at least a dozen flashes of lightning covered Leafmon's body.

"Leafmon digivolve to… DoKunemon!"

"Kuramon digivolve to… Tsukaimon!"

Completely different creatures sat before the boys. On Raymond's bed stood, on four stubby legs, a purple creature with a white underbelly and large, bat-like ears on its head and a stub of a tail. Her cold orange eyes and thin mouth stared at him without meanness. He looked down at his iDigivice. It now read, "Tsukaimon", "Level: Rookie", "Species: Nightmare Soldier", "Attacks: Poison Bubble, Breeze Blaster, Bat Flutter", "Field: Dark" and "Attribute: Darkness". Finally, there was: "It usually works as the messenger to strong Dark digimon. It's short-tempered and feisty. It always wants to sort things out with battle."

Connor's digimon curled up on his lap, soon falling asleep. She had a long green body now, with seven black lines on each of her body segments, as well as two, long, green antennae. She had three purple stubby front legs on each side of her upper body, and three yellow back legs on each side of her lower body, as well as a purple stinger. She had a purple mouth and two black lightning-shaped eyes, and Connor would not have known she was asleep if not for her slowed breathing and unmoving head. Raymond's screen changed.

"DoKunemon", "Level: Rookie", "Species: Jungle Troopers", "Attacks: Poison Sting, Poison Powder, Capture Net", "Field: Insect-Plant" and "Attribute: Thunder". Finally, there was: "A larval digimon with lightning bolt markings on its body. The lightning bolt on its face changes based on its emotions, so it is thought to be the eye."

"We can keep them, right, RayRay?"

"Oh… fine!"

"Shhh!" Connor whispered, petting DoKunemon slowly, "My baby's asleep!"


	3. Chapter III: The Big Brother

**A/N: **Hello everyone! Please don't expect me to update this often always xD Anyways, don't forget to check out my profile for updates on links for you to look at that go along with this fic. Please read and tell me what you think with a review! I hope you all enjoy

* * *

**Part I: The Digital Clones**

**Chapter III: The Big Brother**

* * *

"Mmm me no nio eggs! Mmm me no nio eggs!"

Liam grabbed his youngest brother Charlie and picked him up, looking him in the eyes and smiling. Charlie looked almost like an exactly clone of Liam, who in turn looked a lot like his father. They had short, brunette hair and green eyes, though only Liam had a scar across his right eye and the black-rimmed eyeglasses.

"You're hungry?"

"Mmma no ninio na nio-io."

Liam frowned slightly as Charlie spoke, saying words only the little boy could possibly understand. He was already five years old, but he seemed to be having trouble grasping language, which worried Liam, as he would be off to kindergarten soon. He had to have some kind of learning disability, but Liam knew nothing would be done about it until the school forced his father to act. Liam set Charlie down and headed into the kitchen, praying there would be eggs in the refrigerator. He opened it and stared at its largely empty space, spying the egg carton. He knew if he made Charlie eggs, he would have to make eggs for Daniella and Michael as well.

He grabbed the egg carton and smiled as he felt its weight. Just as he assumed, upon opening the carton, he discovered six eggs. He grabbed three with one hand and put the carton back, grabbing the 2-liter bottle of soda with his other hand and closing the fridge with his foot.

He set them down on the table and quickly grabbed the salt from the cabinets and the pan from where it had been hanging above the stove. He set it down and quickly got to work, glancing behind his shoulder at his siblings. Charlie and Daniella, an excitable little girl who was eight years old, were both watching a little kids show while Michael, who was twelve, looked through a video game magazine borrowed from a friend.

When Liam heard the commercials on the TV, he was working quickly on frying the eggs, making them scrambled, and laying them across foam plates. He pulled out paper cups and filled them with as many ice cubes as he could before pouring soda in. He had to force them to drink as little as possible, so really, the soda was just enough to mask the awful taste of the melted tap water the ice cubes would become.

As Liam was finishing up, Daniella nudged Michael until he finally looked up. First he saw Charlie pointing at the TV screen. Michael turned to look at it and gasped at the silent static that was displayed, and when the TV turned off on its own, he scrambled to his feet. But the television turned back on to the commercials before he had time to call for Liam.

"Food ready. You guys know the drill."

"But—!"

"I'm sure you've seen that episode a million times. Now come into the kitchen!"

Daniella and Charlie were off in an instant, but Michael lingered for a moment. He walked over to the kitchen and frowned at the plates. 'Eggs all by themselves, again? Yuck!'

"Hey..."

"Liam." said the namesake.

"Right, sorry. Since mom calls you—"

"Ugh, just tell me what you wanna tell me."

"Yeah, ok. The TV did a weird thing."

"A weird thing?"

"Yeah, it went all fuzzy and then the TV just turned off. And then it turned back on again."

"Hmm... I doubt it was anything to worry about," Liam started, but when he noticed Michael's worried expression, he changed course, "but I'll go upstairs and check the TV in our room if you want."

"Thanks. And about the food—"

"I know you and Daniella aren't used to being here, but until your mom gets her check tomorrow, this is all we have. I... apologize for my father."

"I get that you're not responsible for him."

"But I'm responsible for you guys."

"We're not your children. We aren't even blood related."

"You guys might as well be my kids. Plus, we're brothers now, even if it's just through marriage. We've all gotta live together, after all."

Liam put a hand on Michael's shoulder and gave a reassuring squeeze and smile. Michael smiled back and nodded.

"I'm going upstairs now, alright? Keep an eye on the two little gremlins."

Michael nodded again and walked over to his place at the table, sighing at his plate before he picked up his fork and began eating.

Liam was half-way up the stairs when Michael called out, "Happy Birthday, bro!"

Liam smiled and stopped to soak that in before calling out his thanks and continuing on his way.

He paused at the door, fishing out a key from his pocket and opening his father's room. The sight of female articles of clothing in the room was not foreign, but it still felt strange to walk in and see such a large amount of clothing and other personal items identifying that a woman now lived in there permanently.

He glanced under the bed and spotted a six-pack of beer cans, as usual. He grabbed them and placed them under the pillow on his stepmother's side of the bed. As he was turning around, he caught sight of his reflection, and to his surprise, a bright white light was emitting from his pocket. As he slowly pulled it out, he noticed the small and bulky cellphone had been replaced by a much sleeker and technologically advanced model. It was light blue and perfectly rectangular, had a circular button on the bottom center, and the bright white screen read "iDigivice" in black block letters.

The screen turned grey, and then the apps appeared. His phone had never had apps; at least, not like these, not in the home page. And the screen was reminiscent of a touch screen. But was this a phone? The profile of a blue, roaring Agumon stood in front of a black D in a cyan background in an app labeled "Digivolution". Liam knew of people who kept digimon clones as pets or servants, and vaguely remembered hearing about the defeat of some evil in Japan by the DATS there, but that was many years ago.

"Liam!"

At Michael's call, Liam was out the door and heading down the stairs, all the while still starting at the device.

The screen lit up white. "iDigivice" appeared at the top, and "Liam Moore" appeared under it. At the very center of the screen was a large black fingerprint and a black arrow pointing down to the button at the bottom of the device. "Press the Home button!" flashed right above the arrow. Curious, Liam pressed the button with his left thumb, and watched as the black fingerprint slowly turned light blue, starting from the top and moving down to the bottom. "Fingerprint accepted!" replaced the previous command above the arrow before the screen changed back to the Home screen with the apps.

Liam didn't know how things such as fingerprinting worked. He wasn't up-to-date with technology, and also thought that whatever power had made this device appear could do anything. As he wondered what sort of God or gods or magic was involved in all this, he reached the bottom of the stairs and the bright light shown from the screen once more.

A small white oval about the size of a chicken egg rose out of the screen, and as it floated up, it grew in size. Liam caught it in his arms, and as the glow of the screen faded, the color faded onto the egg. It was still mostly pure white, but with a large cyan snowflake on either side. The egg was cold as ice.

Liam looked up as he heard the running footsteps of his siblings, rushing up to him.

"How much did you guys see?"

"I saw it appear out of that thing!" exclaimed Daniella.

"I saw the snowflakes appear," said Michael.

"Mmme na noi neeoi!" chimed Charlie.

They all looked at Liam's hand as the iDigivice began to glow pure white once more, and an app turned on all of its own: "Digivolution". A large crack suddenly broke through the shell of the egg, and it grew much colder. Liam ran into the kitchen and set the egg down in the sink as his heart responded by skipping a beat and aching in his chest.

From every crack, bright white light shone. After five cracks, the light became blinding, and Liam was forced to look away. When it died down, Liam turned back to look down at the sink. In the place of the egg was a small, white creature, with two large black eyes and two round ears that sat on its head. Liam's siblings ran up to him and looked into the sink, Charlie struggling to jump high enough. The creature looked around at them all before looking Liam in the eyes and smiling.

"I'm YukimiBotamon! Let's have fun together!"

"Oh my God, you got a free talking plushie!" Daniella squealed joyfully.

"No way, you idiot. That has _got_ to be a digimon," Michael said, crossing his arms and shaking his head.

"I _am_ a digimon!"

"You see?"

"Me mo nai yuki!" Charlie was still jumping up and down, trying to sneak a peek at the sink.

Everyone looked down at Charlie, who stopped and stared up at them. They then turned their attention to Liam.

"What?"

"What do you mean, 'what'?" Daniella said.

"What are you doing about the digimon?" Michael asked.

"And about that phone."

Liam looked down at his hand, where the screen had darkened.

He pressed the button and supplied his fingerprint once more, receiving a "Fingerprint accepted!" Almost immediately, the Home screen changed as a black background with a light blue pattern something like that of a data board. At the top, a box contained "YukimiBotamon". Below that and to the right, a picture of the creature was displayed. To the left of it, five boxes: "Level: In-Training", "Species: Dragon's Roar", "Attacks: Diamond Dust", "Field: ?" and "Attribute: Dragon". Below this was one final box: "Its whole body is covered in fluffy, white hair. It is weak to heat, and has a trait of preferring cold places, so its body feels cold to the touch."

"So, um… YukimiBotamon," Liam pronounced slowly as the creature smiled up at him, "where did you come from… ma'am?"

"Oh, that's easy I… oh, I can't remember."

"Charlie!" he exclaimed, jumping up and down rapidly. At this, Liam took the slightly cold creature into his hands so Charlie could see her.

"Let's introduce ourselves. I'm Michael, _that_ one is Daniella," he smirked as she gasped indignantly, "and that's our…"

"Stepbrother, Liam. My name is Liam."

"Liam! Liiiiiiiiam! Liam Liam Liam Liam Liam!"

As she jumped up and down happily, a small whirlwind of snow surrounded the creature, causing Liam to drop her.

"YukimiBotamon digivolve to… SnowAgumon!"

To their surprise, it grew, and when it dissipated, a considerably larger digimon stood before them. A white dinosaur with a large head, teal eyes, a similarly-colored scarf around her thick neck, black leather belts bound around her three sharp claws in both hands, and large, three-clawed feet. She sneezed, and snowflakes escaped her nostrils, her sharp teeth on full display and her stump of a tail wagging slightly. Charlie hid behind Liam, and the family stared apprehensible at the digimon.

"Ah… don't be scared, my new friends!"

She grinned joyously, and Charlie leaped forward to hug her, laughing and squealing until he was read in the face as she spun him around, giggling along.

The children looked up at Liam, waiting for him to react. Liam looked at each face, falling at last on SnowAgumon's grinning mug. He looked down at his iDigivice. It now read, "SnowAgumon", "Level: Rookie", "Species: Dragon's Roar", "Attacks: Little Blizzard, Sharp Claw, Ice Bite", "Field: Dragon" and "Attribute: ?". Finally, there was: "It lives among the frigid mountains and icy glaciers. Because this it is cold-blooded, it cannot regulate its body temperature. It is an extremely rare digimon, spoken of as destined to be a hero."

"Uh… you're big… now."

* * *

**A/N:** That there, for anyone who didn't quite catch it, is a 2006 anime version SnowAgumon. Slightly smaller than the Agumon partnered with Maseru/Marcus, though


	4. Chapter IV: The Only Child

**A/N:** Hello everyone! I'd like you to know that I made some edits to Chapter III, mostly because I realized I hadn't properly described what he looks like. As I said before, please don't expect me to update this often all the time xD And as always, don't forget to check out my profile for updates on links for you to look at that go along with this fic. Please read and tell me what you think with a review! Every author needs the support! Also, don't tear me apart for this chapter, since I did lots of research and tried really hard to reflect the culture properly. I hope you all enjoy.

* * *

**Part I: The Digital Clones**

**Chapter IV: The Only Child**

* * *

Luana stared down at the bowl of rice in her hand, trying to will her hand to stop shaking, though it was so slight that only she could have possibly noticed it.

Luana had been hit with some very alarming news today, though not for the same reason that it had been alarming to her parents. Luana first thought back to her childhood in Japan, when her nanny had served as both mother and father to her. As the owners of several very large and prosperous hospitals, her parents were constantly away on business trips, and so Luana became very attach to her nanny. Luana's mind replayed several memories of herself silently practicing on the piano, studying, or going through a dance routine as her nanny watched on with a smile, and it would be the only thing that would comfort her as she wondered if some classmate would have invited her over to their home that day if she weren't always so busy.

When Luana was fourteen, her nanny was diagnosed with very advanced breast cancer, and she returned to Japan. All the other servants that followed twelve year old Luana and her parents to the United States—her father's butler, her mother's maid, and their chef—remained, thankfully, but Luana's nanny was replaced with Reika, Luana's new personal maid and caretaker. As the only servant that lived with them, Reika and Luana became joined at the hip, especially as their common interests were revealed and Reika became instrumental as a native English speaker and American citizen.

But now, with Reika's wedding to her female fiancé approaching, the sudden and unexpected announcement had caused quite a stir in the Hatazawa household. Luana struggled greatly with this, not because she had a problem with Reika's orientation—though she was bitter that Reika had never revealed this to her before—but because she knew her parents would. The tension was thick as Reika would pass by Luana's parents in the hallways of the large home, and they were no longer going on business trips together, slightly afraid of leaving Luana alone with Reika any longer.

Finally, after a long stretch of silence that had casual fallen on the diners, Luana chose to set her bowl down and speak. She twirled a strand of pink-dyed hair around with her fingers nervously as she began.

"Otousan. Okaasan."

Takashi and Akai turned their attention to their only child as she began, noting that she seemed slightly startled as they suddenly made eye-contact with her. Luana's eyes shifted to the side for a moment before meeting her father's gaze directly.

"I feel like it isn't very often that I express my gratitude for all our good fortune."

"Well, that's very considerate of you, Luana," her father said, smiling broadly.

Luana smiled minutely before continuing.

"I'm particularly grateful to have Reika-san around."

The mood seemed to shift quickly, and the atmosphere thicken at the mention of that name.

"Are you, Luana?" her mother asked, making sure to smile as she spoke.

"Yes, I am. She's always been very attentive to my needs, aiding me in my studies and serving as an excellent tutor. She's also been invaluable to me…" Luana paused, slightly embarrassed to continue despite knowing that her parents were completely aware of this, "She's also been a faithful companion of mine, taking me out on days I can afford to relax and have fun. She," Luana hesitated slightly, but she knew she had to push on, "has, in many ways, surpassed the role of a nanny, being more like… a parent to me, especially when you two are away on your numerous business trips."

Luana observed her father's eyebrows knit together. The food was completely forgotten as her parents risked a quick glance at each other, discomfort clearly evident in their eyes. Luana almost ventured to think it might be guilt. She hoped it was, because now she needed to attempt to be even braver.

"Despite, of course, the fact that her joining us was due to the very unfortunate departure of my nanny, due to her breast cancer. Bless her soul, which is surely now in Heaven. She did recommend Reika-san, her niece, to us before she left to return to Japan. I'm certainly grateful to her for her wisdom and for the great care she took in choosing such a well-suited personal maid for me."

"I assure you, my daughter, she is greatly missed."

'_Yes, I know that. But maybe for the wrong reasons.'_

Now came the time to be the bravest—or stupidest—she had been for the entire length of the conversation. Luana thought their softening facial expressions were the best sign she would get that it was safe to finish her arguments.

"I know I was as surprised as you were when I found out about Reika-san's engagement."

"Luana…" her mother began, prepared to steer the conversation in another direction. Her father began to appear more uncomfortable and nearing angry. Luana panicked, but quickly found her resolve again with the hopes that her argument would be infallible.

"However, gay and lesbian people are everywhere, in every level of society and in every occupation," Luana could feel her face redden as she forced herself to spit out the next sentence. "And it isn't like you could shelter me from them, nor would you always know who was gay and who was straight. None of us had any idea with Reika until she told us about it."

An extremely tense silence fell over the dining table as the husband and wife stared at each other, completely baffled by their daughter's straight-forward declarations with quite clearly approached accusations. They didn't know what to say. It had always been their ideal to never talk down to their daughter or reprimand her too harshly, but this was nearly unthinkable. They seemed to be having a silent conversation with their eyes for a second before they both returned to eating, and Luana continued eating as well. She had finished eating and was unsure of what to do. It seemed almost like they had ended the conversation without telling her.

Almost without her knowledge, Luana's mind seemed to come up with one more thing to add, and she said it.

"If I, myself, were a lesbian or bisexual, you wouldn't kick her out or love me any less, right?"

"What is this about, Luana?" her mother quickly asked, concern and fear written clearly on her face.

"Ah, no, I didn't mean anything by it!"

"Luana, is there something you need to tell us?" her father asked, his expression very stern.

"I'm a high school student. I'm not even considering romance. It would only distract me from my studies."

That wasn't entirely true. She didn't have any friends, and so she never interacted with any boys or girls. She had never had a crush or even thought about anyone that way, but she didn't care to think about it right at that moment.

Her parents seemed apprehensive, but they were satisfied with this answer for the time being. Her father turned his attention back to his daughter, clearing his throat to get her attention.

"Reika… over the last two years… has performed outstandingly as an employee, and also as your caretaker and… I suppose one could say 'confidant'..." He shifted in his seat slightly. "You have been afraid that Reika might be fired?"

"Yes," Luana admitted, trying to avoid her father's gaze.

"I think," her mother chimed in, "that it would be improper to impose such a big change on you during your high school years. Reika has come to know you very well, and we appreciate that she went through so much trouble for your sake."

Luana tried not to smile too eagerly as her father nodded.

"As long as her performance continues to be exemplary, there shouldn't be any issues."

Luana had finished her rice and soup, and. quickly ate the last pieces of food left in her other bowls before setting her chopsticks down on the rest. "Gochisoosama deshita," she quickly said, and when her father simply nodded, Luana left the table for her bedroom.

"Ah, Luana."

She stopped in the doorway, turned back to look at her mother.

"Happy birthday."

Luana bowed and thanked her mother before hurrying across the hall, up the five steps and turned down the hallways that ended in her own bedroom. Once inside, she immediately made eye-contact with Reika, who had looked up in alarm when the door opened. She signed with relief when she saw who it was, and quickly got to her feet.

"Don't worry, Reika. My parents agreed to let you stay. You're not going to be fired," Luana slowly said in English, as this was their way of helping her improve.

"Hallelujah!" Reika threw her arms around Luana and spun her around, laughing as Luana struggled.

"What does that even mean?!" Luana asked once Reika finally released her.

"Haha. Sorry for the sudden glumping... _imouto_."

After two years, Luana never failed to scoff and roll her eyes, sometimes adding a playful scolding, and Reika would just laugh. The two smiled at each other, both glad they wouldn't be separated.

"And what does that last word mean? _Glomping_."

"Oh, it means something like a very—"

Reika stopped suddenly, and Luana turned to see what she was staring at. To her surprise, a bright white light was emitting from her phone, which was sitting on her bed. They both approached it, glancing at each other nervously as they took in it's new appearance. It was a golden color and perfectly rectangular, had a circular button on the bottom center, and the bright white screen read "iDigivice" in black block letters. There was a button on the top at the left, and three buttons along the left side of the device. There was also a front-facing camera and what looked like a long oval-shaped speaker above the screen.

The screen turned grey, and then the apps appeared. The very last app, which was centered and at the bottom of the screen, caught Luana's attention almost immediately. The profile of a blue, roaring Agumon stood in front of a black D in a cyan background. This app was labeled "Digivolution". Luana thought of the 'family dog' Labramon and the Renamon that belonged to and worked with the chef, wondering if perhaps her parents had bought her some new technology from DATS Inc. that she hadn't heard about.

"Reika-san, did my parents tell you to leave this for me?"

"Not at all."

As Luana was pondering whether or not to pick it up, the white light reappeared. A small white oval about the size of a chicken egg rose out of the screen, and as it floated up, it grew in size. The egg floated to the side and down to rest next to the device. As the glow of the screen faded, it gains several brown stripes, similar in shape to claws. When the light completely disappeared and the egg landed softly onto her bed, it slumped sideways.

"It's as big as a melon, or bigger," Luana said, taking a few steps back.

"What should we do?"

"I don't know. Please give me the... phone-like object."

Reika passed it to her. Luana pressed the round button, and the screen lit up white. "iDigivice" appeared at the top, and "Hatazawa Luana" appeared directly under it.

"It already has my name on it, somehow," Luana said as Reika looked over her shoulder.

At the very center of the screen was a large black fingerprint and a black arrow pointing down to the button at the bottom of the device. "Press the Home button!" flashed right above the arrow. Luana pressed the button with her right index finger, and watched as the black fingerprint slowly turned golden, starting from the top and moving down to the bottom, as if performing a scan. "Fingerprint accepted!" replaced the previous command above the arrow before the screen changed back to the Home screen with the apps.

"Wow, DATS Inc. must have outdone themselves this time. But wait, Reika, you said you didn't hear my parents talk about giving me this?"

"Not even once, that I can remember."

The iDigivice began to glow pure white once more, and an app turned on all of its own: "Digivolution". On the screen was on image of the egg that had appeared for Luana. A large crack suddenly broke through the shell of the egg with so much force and speed that it frightened the two young ladies, and Luana's heart responding by skipping a beat, flinching and wincing as she felt a sudden pain and heavy beating of her heart.

The two watched as more cracks tore through the egg. From every crack, bright white light shone. After a few cracks, the light became blinding, and they were forced to look away. When it died down after several more cracks, Luana turned back to look down at her bed. In the place of the egg was a small creature. It had a tan face with large brown eyes and a fang-toothed smile. Surrounds its head was a large, golden frill, and a brown tail extended from its body.

"I am Frimon, and I will one day become a gracious and beloved king!"

Lunana and Reika shared a glace, then returned to staring at the creature in disbelief. This had to be a digimon, but it was nothing like the clones they had always seen on the streets, on the TV, and even in Luana's own home.

"I smell... a Labramon!" A low growl and a sudden vicious look overtook its features, though it somehow looked ridiculous on such an adorable creature. "Don't tell me this territory already belongs to another digimon! I'll have to fight him for it!"

Luana thought of Masaru, Tohma, Yoshino, and Ikuto, none of whom she had ever met but had heard of the heroics they had exhibited, and that instance in which she had become covered, head to toe, in the thing which they called _digisoul_. It had all happened so fast, and she was so young.

"What's your name?" Frimon asked, looking straight at Luana.

"This is Luana, and I'm Reika."

"You're like a wild digimon that came here from the Digital World. But you appeared as an egg."

"You're gonna help me rule as king!"

"Uh..."

"Yes! When I'm king, there will be no more fighting and everyone will be happy and get along and be kind to each other!"

As he spoke, Luana looked down at the iDigivice and started at its dark screen. She again pressed the button and supplies her fingerprint, receiving a "Fingerprint accepted!" Almost immediately, the Home screen changed as a black background with a light blue pattern something like that of a data board. At the top, a box contained "Frimon". Below that and to the right, a picture of the creature was displayed. To the left of it, five boxes: "Level: In-Training", "Species: Nature Spirits", "Attacks: Tail Whip", "Field: Beast" and "Attribute: Earth". Below this was one final box: "It is able to change the hardness of the fur on its frill, and by covering its body with the frill when danger approaches, it can be used as an 'armor' to protect its body."

Luana looked up at Frimon, who was busily chasing his own tail, and Reika giggled at the sight.

"Let's bring this 'Frimon' to DATS Inc. so they can bring him back to the Digital World."

"But he's so adorable! And he clearly likes you."

"I don't know about that. He wants to be king? Even so, he has to return to the Digital World to reach that goal."

"But think of Marcus and Agumon!"

"Mar...cus?"

"Oh, right, sorry. The news here in America felt that was easier to say. Ah... Masaru. Masaru and Agumon. Maybe you'll save the Digital World one day, too!"

"Yeah, I doubt it."

Frimon had finally managed to bite his tail, and he of course cried out in pain, purring loudly and angrily from the discomfort. Luana couldn't help but smile fondly at the sight.

Suddenly, Frimon became covered in light and a whirlwind of fur, and the "Digivolution" app opened again.

"Frimon digivolve to... Leormon!"

The girls looked away from the bright light and turned back once it faded away.

Frimon had changed into what seemed like a completely different creature. He was now a large lion cub, with a large golden ring around his neck and two short chains connecting a big green gem to it. He had a black fedora on his head with a red ribbon around it and a white feather sticking up from the back. Two white shirt cuffs say above his front paws. He grinned dashingly and confidently.

"As Leormon, my dream of becoming a king is even more secure! Come on, Luana! Let's go out and defeat the evil digimon of this world!"

"Um, Luana... I don't mean to drop this on you suddenly, but your parents are likely to notice a lion cub sitting on your bed. Well, actually, they never come in here, but still!"

Luana could only stare down at the iDigivice, which now read, "Leormon", "Level: Rookie", "Species: Nature Spirits", "Attacks: Leor Claw, Critical Strike, Energy Shot", "Field: Beast" and "Attribute: Earth". Finally, there was: "It is a digimon with an extremely strong sense of territoriality, so it doesn't show mercy to those who enter its territory. It wears a Holy Ring around its neck."

_'A Holy Ring...'_

Leormon pounced on Luana suddenly, tackling her down on the ground, her head hitting the carpeted floor painfully. Her sight swam as Leormon licked her face a few times before laying down with his head on top of his paws which rested atop her chest, and his body was sprawled out on top of her. He purred loudly, his entire body vibrating as he smiled happily. Reika bent down and pet Leormon's head, and he eagerly leaned into the touch. Luana tilted her head up as far as she could and bumped her nose against the cold, wet one of the large kitten. He opened his blue eyes and smiled at the brown eyes that glared into his.

"I don't need another pet," Luana said flatly as Reika giggled.

* * *

**A/N:** I know, it seems like these chapters just keep getting longer. I promise, though, it's not because I play favorite with my characters! It all depends on how inspired I get. They will all get lots of love, though. Also, I make constant spelling and grammar fixes, so don't be afraid to PM me about something I should edit


	5. Chapter V: The Strong, Independent Woman

**A/N: **Wow, I'm churning these out so fast! As always, please don't expect me to update this often all the time xD And as always, don't forget to check out my profile for updates on links for you to look at that go along with this fic. Please read and tell me what you think with a review! Every author needs the support! Also, disclaimer: I don't own Disney or The Beauty and the Beast or anything. It's just a single mention, anyway. Oh, and, mild swearing here. But yeah, they're teenagers. Well, I hope you all enjoy.

* * *

**Part I: The Digital Clones **

**Chapter V: The Strong, Independent Woman**

* * *

Fatmata was petrified, her knees barely able to keep her up and her stomach churning dangerously.

She sat down and kept her eyes on the clock on the vanity, knowing that any moment now she'd be heading out of the 'Blue Pearl Banquet Hall' green room, making her way down the hallway, and enter the enormous hall where her Sweet 16 was being held. She'd make her grand entrance, wow her friends with an incredible party in which she would be the center of attention.

And that was what terrified her.

It was all a lie, and she knew it. Her confidence, her independence, her strength. It was all a show for her prep school friends, who all simultaneously loved her and hated her because her family wasn't as wealthy as theirs. With only her father working—

Fatmata felt her eyes begin to tear up, and despite the fact that all her make up was waterproof, she bolted to her feet and grabbed the box of tissues that was meant for happy tears and make up fixes.

_'Maman... was supposed to be here for this. To see her little girl become a woman...'_

Instead, Kennedy would be there, her older sister by twelve years. Fatmata knew that as the woman who had raised her, Kennedy had every right to stand in for their mother. Their other siblings couldn't, of course. Aby, who was 36 years old, and, Ishmael, who was 31 years old, were already parents of their own children. Oumar, who Fatmata thought might be 34 years old, hadn't bothered to come from California for her Sweet. She barely knew what he looked like after all those years. He had never even visited their mother as she lay dying in the hospital. Fatmata hasn't been in the same room as him since she was a few months old.

Fatmata thought of this as the bitter tears rolled down her cheeks, sadness and anger mingled burning in her chest. She pulled out several tissues and dabbed her face, growling under her breath. She was angriest at herself for crying. Her siblings were all idiots, her mother was gone forever, and she would soon have to go out and face her friends, who would judge her incessantly. She couldn't let her honest feelings show.

Fatmata turned to stare at herself in the mirror, staring into the look of pure rage of her reflection.

_'Stop it, you pathetic little fucker. Pull yourself the _fuck_ together!'_

Fatmata practically screamed at herself, even startling her own self with how much venom was dripping from her words. She tried her best to stop herself from shaking as violently as she was, and to stop the stream of tears that just wouldn't relent. She leaned forward and hit her forehead against the mirror's surface, swallowing the 'ow'. She did this again and again until the tears and shaking stopped, and a round, red spot appeared on her forehead. It was almost completely disappeared by the time Aby walked in.

Fatmata sat with her ankles crossed on the chair, a small smile on her face and her eyes sparkling as she looked up at Aby. She looked elegant and mature in her green dress, a near-perfect replica of the yellow dress belonging to Disney Princess Belle. Her hair extensions allowed her to have the same hairstyle supporting a sparkling silver tiara. So far, she was pulling it off. She took as deep a breath as her corset would allow and stood up, allowing her sister to take her by the arm.

Fatmata resisted the urge to plop down on her chair as movement and noise continually surrounded and engulfed her. She had just spent over an hour on her feet: first had been her entrance with her court, which had been a combination of friends and cousins from Senegal that didn't speak English. Then the first dances between the pairs of cousins and the pair of friends, plus her dance with Ishmael and her father Souleymane. The some light mingling and dancing, where she had to try her best to partition her attention to all her guests. Now, finally, came the food, served by the waiters and waitresses. She was dying for a seat and some good food, and her mind kept wandering to the flats sitting in the green room. She then thought of her phone, but first her father wanted everyone attention for a toast. Fatmata removed her phone from the purse hanging on her chair, resolved to leave it on her table for easy access once he was done.

Except it wasn't her phone.

In her hand was a completely different device, emitting a bright white light. It was a deep blue color and perfectly rectangular, had a circular button on the bottom center, and the bright white screen read "iDigivice" in black block letters. There was a button on the top at the left, and three buttons along the left side of the device. There was also a front-facing camera and what looked like a long oval-shaped speaker above the screen.

Fatmata completely tuned out as her father spoke, which wasn't difficult, as he was a man of few words. She turned it around and noticed that a symbol on the back. It appeared to be a dolphin with three bubbles below it. Additionally, there was the camera and the flash on the top left corner. As everyone cheered and lifted their glasses of champagne or sparkling apple cider, Fatmata snapped back to attention and raised her own, smiling as best as she could. As everyone sat down and the waiters and waitresses continued serving, Fatmata took her strange new discovery as the perfect cue for her to return to the green room and get her flats. She ignored the questions from members of her court as she made her way out of the room, down the hallway and into the empty green room.

She sat down on her chair just in time for the device to go dark, and when she pressed the center button, the lock screen greeted her. At the very center of the screen was a large black fingerprint and a black arrow pointing down to the button at the bottom of the device. "Press the Home button!" flashed right above the arrow. Fatmata pressed the button with her right index finger, and watched as the black fingerprint slowly turned blue, starting from the top and moving down to the bottom, as if performing a scan. "Fingerprint accepted!" replaced the previous command above the arrow before the screen changed back to the Home screen with the apps. The very last app, which was centered and at the bottom of the screen, was the last thing she spotted as she scanned the screen with her eyes from top to bottom. The profile of a blue, roaring Agumon stood in front of a black D in a cyan background. This app was labeled "Digivolution". Fatmata was thoroughly familiar with Digimon, though her own father was superstitious and could not bare to be near the "demons".

Fatmata set it down on the vanity as she remembered her aching feet, and removed her heels in favor of her black flats. As she looked back up from her feet, she noticed the white light reappeared. A small white oval about the size of a chicken egg rose out of the screen of the iDigivice, and as it floated up, it grew in size. The egg floated to the side and down to rest next to the device. As the glow of the screen faded, it became the same blue as the device, with white circles all over it. The way a crescent of 'reflected' near the top of the circles was reminiscent of bubbles. When the light completely disappeared and the egg landed softly onto her lap, it slumped longways, balanced between her thighs.

'_Bubbles… and the dolphin… this is something water related?'_ she wondered.

She didn't get much time to think, as the iDigivice began to glow pure white once more, and an app turned on all of its own: "Digivolution". On the screen was on image of the egg that had appeared and landed on Fatmata's lap, though she did not see the screen, as she was focused on the egg. A large crack suddenly broke through the shell of the egg with so much force and speed that it frightened Fatmata and she startled. Her heart responded by skipping a beat, and she flinched and winced, a hand shooting up to her chest as she felt a sudden pain and heavy beating of her heart.

She watched as more cracks tore through the egg. From every crack, bright white light shone. After a few cracks, the light became blinding, and she was forced to look away. When it died down after several more cracks, Fatmata turned back to look down at her lap. In the place of the egg was a small white jellyfish with pure black eyes and an adorable smile.

"I'm Poyomon, and I'm so happy to meet you!"

"Oh wow… my very own digimon."

"What's your name?"

"Fatmata Kamara. You can just call me Fatmata. And you're… Poyomon?"

"I sure am! Mmmm, I'm just so happy to see you again!"

"Again…" A strange feeling overcame the girl, something she could only describe as a tugging backwards in her brain, and she immediately got a headache.

"Poyomon, you remember me from before? How?"

"Ah… well, kinda. Not really, but I feel it."

Fatmata frowned at that response. It, or he, giggled, and he hopped onto the vanity—how a jellyfish with no legs managed to do that was a mystery to the young lady—and looked down at the iDigivice. Fatmata stood up and did the same.

The screen had gone dark. She again pressed the button and supplies her fingerprint, receiving a "Fingerprint accepted!" She then wondered about that particular feature, but become distracted from those thoughts. Almost immediately, the Home screen changed as a black background with a light blue pattern something like that of a data board. At the top, a box contained "Poyomon". Below that and to the right, a picture of the creature was displayed. To the left of it, five boxes: "Level: In-Training", "Species: Savers of the Deep Sea", "Attacks: Acid Bubbles", "Field: Aquan" and "Attribute: Water". Below this was one final box: "It has a transparent body and drifts in Macro Sea with the current. Among all the digimon, it's got the most primitive body structure."

'_Mmm, I wonder what all of that stuff means. In-Training, Savers of the Deep, Aquan. Savers... like a superhero type deal?'_

A knocking at the door startled the two, and Fatmata grabbed Poyomon and plopped him down under her chair. Luckily for her, he got to the gist of the idea, for her stayed put and tried his best to hide as Kennedy walked inside. Fatmata frowned at her sister and the pantsuit she was wearing.

"What's taking so long? This is your party, after all. Everyone's constantly looking for you. Plus, your food's gonna be cold."

"Sorry, I just.. I needed a break from all the noise and the lights."

"You go to parties all the time."

"Yeah,and when I need to go outside and get some fresh air, I do."

"You're gonna get raped one day if you keep doing these things."

"Your straight face and flat tone sure lets me know you love me."

"Just get out there soon."

Fatmata turned around a look under her chair, where Poyomon looked on in worry.

"Something's wrong. Why do you look so upset?"

Fatmata shook her head as she picked him up and placed him back on her lap.

"Don't worry about that, Poyomon. But it reminds me that we need to find a way to get you out of here with me later."

Poyomon looked up at her, puffed out his cheeks, and made a "umph" sound.

"Don't lie to me, Fatmata!"

"I… what?"

Poyomon was acting surprisingly direct for such a small creature. He looked up at her seriously, and she felt a tug at her heart under his gaze.

"I'm sorry. It's just… that was my sister, and we don't get along so well. To be honest—"

Suddenly, Poyomon became covered bubbles, and the "Digivolution" app opened again on the iDigivice on the vanity. The bubbles grew and changed shape.

"Poyomon digivolve to... Crabmon!"

The bubbles slowly popped as the new, much larger digimon revealed himself.

Crabmon looked exactly as the name would suggest. He was blue with splashes of red similar to short spurts of spray painting. His back was a spine-covered shell and his face was large, as were his green eyes and mouth of pointy teeth. The gigantic blade on his left claw and a smaller right claw, as well as the three legs on either side of his body, gave Fatmata the creeps. His shell, with its metallic sheen and cold surface, contrasted with his bright smile.

Fatmata reached for the iDigivice and was not disappointed. It now read, "Crabmon", "Level: Rookie", "Species: Savers of the Deep", "Attacks: Scissors Magic, Hard Shell, Water Pressure", "Field: Aquan" and "Attribute: Water". Finally, there was: "It stuck the metal data dissolved in the Macro Sea to its body, rapidly enhancing its combat ability. Although its weakness lies upon its stomach and joint-spaces, it remains conscious about itself, and thus never shows them."

"Fatmata, sounds like a party outside."

His voice was gruff, similar to a smoker's, but it sounded much more natural, and had a mischievous tone to it.

'_Oh, what am I gonna do with Poyomon now? Is he still Poyomon? Or… Crabmon, now, I guess.'_ She took in the size of the digimon on her lap, whose weight was seriously beginning to bother her. _'Oh no no no. This isn't good.'_

* * *

**A/N: **This is a bit of a heavy chapter. It has the first obvious evidence of foreshadowing, though there is some in all the past chapters. Pay attention to the similarities and differences between chapters. Particularly, to the digivolutions. That's your hint!

Whoo, I now get to respond to reviews!

TheallknowingandUnseen: Thank you so much for my very first reviews, as well as for the favorite! And I listened to your constructive criticism and decided to make a change. I've been making a bunch of changes to the past chapters, though most haven't been too major. And about Luana and her nanny, don't you worry, that's coming up. Also, you mentioned that I created a unique world. It does take place after Data Squad/Savers, but it's several years into the future and, well, a lot has happened since then. I mean, look at the mysterious DATS Inc. right there in the USA! You'll find out more later. Thank you for the outright praising, as well! I very much appreciate it!

Thank also to The Exiled Outcast for the favorite and follow, as well as Something dictionary related and Vulpix's flame for the follows.


	6. Chapter VI: The Hopeless Romantic

**A/N: **This chapter follows all the rules and guidelines, so don't worry, guys. As always, don't forget to check out my profile for updates on links for you to look at that go along with this fic. Please read and tell me what you think with a review! Every author needs the support! There's some more mild swearing here, too. Well, I hope you all enjoy.

* * *

**Part I: The Digital Clones **

**Chapter VI: The Hopeless Romantic**

* * *

[August 9]

_i can't anymore. today sucked, and i'm at a cross roads. four days ago, i was interviewed for a group home, and i felt like i was being judged for being there. i don't even know what good this will do. i don't know if i'll be gone after 2 months or i'll be there for a year. i don't know._

_i know the enviornment isnt supposed to be fun or welcoming and i get that. i know what the rules are. i just didnt expect to be called an idiot and stupid by the staff for asking for clarification of said rules. it's eating at me, and now i don't know if this is going to happen anymore. i want it to happen, but st the same time i don't. they don't negotiate or even offer supports it seems. one arguement and they threaten to call the police, and its their house, i get that, i'm just a visitor. i don't know what or when anything will happen, but i'm not looking forward to it anymore. i'm almost regretting calling the police. i'm trying. i try. i don't know what else anyone wants from me. tell me what trying is and i'll make you all happy. i don't know what the fuck to do._

[August 16]

_once i was on the bus and this guy with a cute hat and blonde hair tapped me on the shoulder and told me my hair looked pretty, then he tipped his hat and got off the bus. what that guy didn't know was that i was on my way back to the group home i lived at at the time. i used to get bullied constantly by my "best friends" and shit like that, but that guy made me feel really good about myself. its been a year since he said that and i still think about what he said when im feeling extra shit about myself. today, im at a different group home, of course. the bus i take back from school to the group home passes the stop that guy got off. i still look for him when we pass the stop. i wish i could thank him because his compliment really helped me_

_sometimes random acts of kindness really make a difference. you don't know anyone's story._

[August 28]

_being in group homes and all that shit…you learn really fast to attach yourself to very little. you need to find something worth doing, something memorable and something that means something to you, to avoid becoming a "program kid" who's always in and out of them, even in adulthood. something to keep your brain functioning, keep hope alive, prevent yourself from crawling up the walls, and to remain yourself. i hope i can find that soon. maybe music will be it_

[September 4]

_i cant take this shit anymore. i cant. i cant. i cant. i cant. i cant. i fucking cant! i need to leave. i hate everyone i live with. i want to see their rotting corpses. i want to see them hurt. i want to watch them suffer. they fucking deserve it. THEY ALL DESERVE IT! why should i suffer their constant abuse. they constantly torture my mind. they threatned me today. because i locked them out. they were about to hit me. i wish they did. i would've unleashed every ounce of rage ive been holding back. the reason they constantly bully and abuse me is all because i'm gay. that's the reason. dumbest fucking thing in the world. i can't stay here much longer. i'll snap soon. I'll come unhinged. And they will all regret it. the only good place i ever stayed at was that foster home with Ray and Connor. i wish they hadnt closed their door to me and the others. well, i'll be seeing them in school soon s_

Gabriel closed his notebook as his roommate Robert stormed in, closing the door behind him and leaning against it. Robert dug his hands into his pockets and sighed before making his way towards his bed.

"What's up, Bo?"

He looked up and into Gabriel's eyes, and it was obvious that he was fuming inside and trying to hide it. He opened his mouth to respond, but before he could say anything, William walked in. He was the "father" of the group home, and because none of the staff was around at the moment, he was dealing with all the problems coming up.

"Robert, we need to have a talk."

Bo ignored him and turned to Gabriel. "You see, Gabe, I was asked to go downstairs with Monica to the basement so she could get something from the storage area."

"She has a fear of the basement because before she was taken from her mother's custody, her mother ran her "business" out of the basement and would turn out her daughter to whatever men would pay her. So, she developed a very serious fear," William explained.

"My point," Bo continued, still talking to Gabe, "was that she's lived in the group home for a good amount of time, before even I got sent to live here and if she doesn't know by now that there are no greasy, nasty men nor her worthless mother waiting for her in the basement of our house, I can't help her. There were the staff who went to school to study all this stuff—why in the world would they enable such a thing? That girl had to go through the entire house and beg someone to go downstairs with her because the staff had decided not to go with her all the time anymore. By the time she found someone who might agree, she could have gotten what she'd needed ten times over. And now the staff are gone."

"You need to understand about compassion—"

"I was molested by the same old family member for years. I was molested in every room of the family home and in the garage while the door was wide open for all the world to potentially see. So if they want to be all like that, I can do that, too." Bo looked straight in the eyes of William and asked him, "Ya'll want to start going to the bathroom with me? 'Cause I got molested there, too."

"Ah… no, of course not."

"Then leave me the hell alone."

Gabe was cracking up as William left the room, and Bo turned to him with a triumphant grin.

"One… maybe two years before that, I would have never spoken up," Bo said. "I would have done everything I was asked and told to do and ate any frustration about it. But, living in the group home, I've been learning to let people know… don't ask me for shit!"

Gabe grinned and leaned over to give Bo a high five, and soon Gabe got to telling Bo what he had just told his notebook.

"Don't listen to them, bro. They're just jealous of your musical talent. Those fuckers wish they had their shit together like you. You're gonna become a famous musician one day. Hey, I bet all famous male artists got called gay, too. Both the ones who were and the ones who weren't. But hey, look who's fucking laughing now."

Gabe nodded and smiled, thanking his roommate for the kind words. A sudden and urgent need for alcohol overwhelmed Gabriel for a moment, and he quickly grabbed a bag of cookies he kept on the nightstand that stood between the two boys' beds. As he stuffed his face, he sneaked a peak at Bo and discovered that he was changing into his work uniform. Gabe quickly looked away, blushing intensely as he was reminded of someone. Bo was a very quick changer, and after combing his hair some and putting on his pair of work sneakers, he said a quick goodbye to Gabriel and left.

Gabriel grabbed his notebook again and turned to a fresh new page. He began to write.

_Never has there been a place or time_

_For love to bloom through cracks in the asphalt_

_Sitting among the weeds and other unwanted ones_

_I had hoped he would be the sun to help _

_Love grow in these less than favorable conditions_

_._

_And at times I think I must be right because _

_Sunbeams shoot out of his features_

_I want to bury myself in the crinkles of his eyes _

_Because whenever he smiles_

_They run deeper than my scars_

_._

_In my dreams my arms mold perfectly around his waist _

_And then my skin sinks into his where our atoms meet_

_Even though he says that it's impossible_

_I want to stop tasting like smoke and self-destruction_

_And start to taste like him_

_._

_I fear it might be too late for him to love me _

_Because I've been reduced to nothing_

_More than broken shards of glass _

_Laying helplessly on the floor of the bathroom_

_He could be the glue that pieces me back together _

_._

_I could be the mirror that reflects his radiance _

_Back to him so he can start realizing his worth_

_I dont want to be swept off the tiles _

_Then placed in a box labeled "handle with care"_

_Only to be shipped off as someone else's responsibility_

_._

_In my dreams my arms mold perfectly around his waist_

_And then my skin sinks into his where our atoms meet_

_Even though he says that it's impossible_

_I want to stop tasting like smoke and self-destruction_

_And start to taste like him_

_._

_I am more than the sum of my pieces_

_I am more than a statistic you saw on the evening news_

_I am more than a percentage_

_And so is he_

_Together we can become whole_

_._

_In my dreams my arms mold perfectly around his waist_

_And then my skin sinks into his where our atoms meet_

_Even though he says that it's impossible_

_I want to stop tasting like smoke and self-destruction_

_And start to taste like him_

_._

_In my dreams my arms mold perfectly around his waist_

_And then my skin sinks into his where our atoms meet_

_Even though he says that it's impossible_

_I want to stop tasting like smoke and self-destruction_

_And start to taste like him_

_._

The writing took up several hours of work, and he knew he would edit it countless times after that day, not to mention none of it rhymed, but Gabe finally closed his notebook and his eyes as he leaned back. Although his peek at Bo's shirtless body had certainly flustered him, the song wasn't about him. It was about the boy from his dreams and daydreams. The ones that felt awfully like memories, as if they had all really happened.

_'Deja vu for something that's never actually happened... I wonder if other people confuse dreams as memories...'_

Just then, the darkness of the insides of his eyelids seemed bright red as light assaulted his eyes. He opened them to find the light coming from inside his sweater pocket. His $10 phone he'd bought at a pharmacy had been replaced with a much more high-tech device. It was purple and perfectly rectangular, had a circular button on the bottom center, and the bright white screen read "iDigivice" in black block letters. There was a button on the top at the left, and three buttons along the left side of the device. There was also a front-facing camera and what looked like a long oval-shaped speaker above the screen.

The screen turned grey, and then the apps appeared. The very last app, which was centered and at the bottom of the screen, had the profile of a blue, roaring Agumon, which stood in front of a black D in a cyan background. This app was labeled "Digivolution". Gabe barely paid this any mind as he wondered who in the group home had stolen this and placed it in his sweater while he was asleep.

_'I sure as hell didn't steal this. What motherfucker... it couldn't have been Bo, right? But I'm always in my room unless I'm eating or doing chores, and with how freezing cold this house is with the AC, I'm always wearing my sweater. How would neither of us have been woken up?'_

Gabriel laid back further on the bed and brought the device up to his face just in time for it to go dark, and when he pressed the center button. The screen lit up white. "iDigivice" appeared at the top, and "Gabriel Vock" appeared under it.. At the very center of the screen was a large black fingerprint and a black arrow pointing down to the button at the bottom of the device. "Press the Home button!" flashed right above the arrow. Gabe pressed the button with her right index finger, and watched as the black fingerprint slowly turned purple, starting from the top and moving down to the bottom, as if performing a scan. "Fingerprint accepted!" replaced the previous command above the arrow before the screen changed back to the Home screen with the apps.

He didn't have much time to think, as the device began glowing once more, and Gabe pulled it away from his face. A small white oval about the size of a chicken egg rose out of the screen of the iDigivice, and as it floated up, it grew in size. The egg floated forwards and gently touched down on his chest. As the glow of the screen faded, color faded onto the egg. It had thick yellow and brown horizontal stripes.

_'...the fuck is this? Some kind of egg? Alright, this is starting to look like some crazy-voodoo-magic-Satanism shit or some shit. What do I even do with this?'_

Gabe sat up, and as he placed the egg within his crossed legs, the iDigivice began to softly glow a pure white once more, and an app turned on all of its own: "Digivolution". Gabe brought it close to his face again and noticed the screen had an image of the egg that had appeared and was now on Gabriel's lap. He looked down as a large crack suddenly broke through the shell of the egg with such a loud sound that it seemed to him that his heart responded by skipping a beat, and he flinched and winced as he felt a sudden pain and heavy beating of his heart.

He watched as more cracks tore through the egg. From every crack, bright white light shone. After a few cracks, the light became blinding, and he was forced to close his eyes once more. When it died down after several more cracks, Gabriel turned back to look down at his lap.

The egg was gone, and in its place was a creature that look an awful lot like a bee. It had a large, round, golden head with big green and black eyes, a pair of short antennas and a zigzag of a mouth. Its body was about the same size as its head, with four identical stumps for arms and legs. Three seperate pairs of grey insect wings fluttered as it looked up at Gabe.

"My name Puroromon, my Queen! I promise to ge a faithful and dedicated worker bee, always hopeful and optimistic!"

Gabe blinked several times as he stared down at the creature. As she spoke, she had flown up and hovered over his lap. Her voice was a constant buzzing, though not as annoying as a fly's.

"I'm not your Queen. My name is Gabe. And... you're a bee?"

Puroromon turned around and showed off her stinger, and Gabe felt a wave of cold run through his body, and he shivered.

"Put that thing away, please."

Gabe looked down at the small creature, his mind completely blank for a long time as the creature's eyes took in the room. It was small, without much furniture or decoration. Gabe almost felt ashamed to have Puroromon see it, until he realized the creature had only just been born on his lap.

_'Yeah, about that. What the hell is this thing? And why did it call me its Queen?'_

Gabe watched as the creature flew off to explore the room, commenting from time to time on the "hive".

_'So I have my very own worker bee now. I guess this could work to my advantage. I can send it off to some tree to build itself a hive, and go look for it when I need it to... steal stuff for me? Maybe it can get me some free cigs!'_

"Listen up!"

Puroromon hurried over to Gabe and floated in attention.

"Uh... what was your name?"

"Puroromon, Queen."

"Yeah. I'm Gabriel... I _am_ your queen, but don't call me that. Call me Gabe."

Gabe looked down at the iDigivice in his hand. The screen had gone dark. He again pressed the button and supplied her fingerprint, receiving a "Fingerprint accepted!" He wondered if someone would start tracking him or if it was some kind of new police thing William got him. Almost immediately, the Home screen changed as a black background with a light blue pattern something like that of a data board. At the top, a box contained "Puroromon". Below that and to the right, a picture of the creature was displayed. To the left of it, five boxes: "Level: In-Training", "Species: Metal Empire", "Attacks: Tiny Stinger", "Field: Machine" and "Attribute: Steel". Below this was one final box: "It flies freely by individually operating its three pairs of wings. It is not yet powerful, but it is difficult to catch because of its random flying about, which gets the opponent completely annoyed."

_'Maybe the bullies have something to look forward to now.'_

* * *

**A/N:** No, you aren't reading wrong. That is how this chapter ends.

I'd like to note that I know that not everyone agrees on what the word 'sweater' should be used to refer to. I've also heard 'pull-over' used to describe what I call a sweater. 'Jacket' is what I call the one with a zipper in the front, not sweater. So, to be clear, Gabriel's sweater does not have a zipper running down the front.

Also, yes, I realize the back stories seem to only be getting sadder. That wasn't done on purpose. I had decided their fates way before I decided what order the chapters were going to be in. This was just the way I wanted to introduce the characters. Now, for reviews!

TheallknowingandUnseen: Allow me to alleviate your fears right now and let you know that the rape statement was not the foreshadowing. However, I can't tell you if your prediction is right or wrong. Thank you for the praise once more, and keep reading!

lightus of the light: Thank you! And thank you for the favorite.

Thanks also to the KnightAngelSupreme for the follow.

And of course, thank you to all my readers!


	7. Chapter VII: The Expert

**A/N: **It feels like it took me forever to upload this chapter, even though I know it isn't true. As always, don't forget to check out my profile for updates on links for you to look at that go along with this fic. Please read and tell me what you think with a review! Every author needs the support! Well, I hope you all enjoy.

* * *

**Part I: The Digital Clones **

**Chapter VII: The Expert**

* * *

_DigiCode is not a language but a system of writing. DigiCode can easily be translated into Japanese, though translation into another language would be better done from the Japanese, and not directly from DigiCode. This is due to the fact that DigiCode functions the same as hiragana and katakana, except that the second element of a digraph is presented normally, rather than subscripted. On the next page, a table of DigiCode characters and their meaning has been taken from my own personal notes for publication in this book._

_I have theorized that language does not function the same way in the Digital World as in the Human World. I found it difficult to believe that a race of digital creatures spanning an entire world would all speak the same language, and that language would coincidentally be Japanese. Because the Digital World and Human World are connected through computers and the Internet, I believe that language translation software has affected the way the world works, and that when humans enter the Digital World, as they are digitized, they would all be able to understand each other and the digimon._

_This would also explain why a digimon that was just hatched and has no memories of its prior life still has a basic command of language, as if they were born with a dictionary in their. digicores. They may not understand all concepts, but they even hatch knowing their names and that they are digimon. I must give credit to Dr. Dmitri Lavlinski from the newly formed DATS in the United States of America for his irreplaceable and invaluable aid in formulating and fleshing out this theory. Later editions will hopefully contain some of his own findings once he is able to travel into the Digital World and conduct his own research on digicores. In the next chapter, I will be discussing digimon and their different stages of development, as well as the basics of digisoul._

Karen closed the book and looked at the cover. It was titled "Digimon: Research, Theories and Mysteries". It had been written by Tohma H. Norstein of the Japanese Digimon Accident Tactics Squad, several years ago. It had been an incredibly lucky find, as only a select few could get their hands on a book one a subject that was such a secret at the time. Since meeting Masaru and saving the world, he hadn't published anything else. Karen frowned as she thought of America's own DATS Inc. It had started out as a regular DATS, returning wild digimon to the Digital World and helping to keep the peace. But soon, it became a corporation, selling digimon clones, something which the DATS in Japan thought foolish and insensitive. Karen was happy her parents had chosen not to purchase any.

Karen looked up at the sound of a knock at her bedroom door.

"Come in."

Karen's mother walked in, and Karen sighed, knowing what she would say.

"Happy Birthday, sweetie."

"Thanks, mom." _'For the fifth time today.' _

"Are you having a nice day?"

"Yeah, I was just reading this—"

"Are you sure you don't wanna invite any of your friends over?"

There it was. The million-dollar question of the day.

"Yes, mom, I'm sure I don't."

"But why not, honey?"

"You've asked me this already mom. Because they're not really my friends. They're just people I hang out with during lunch. We don't know anything about each other—"

"And it'll stay that way if you never spend time with them outside of school."

"They don't care about me, mom. They're just classmates."

"Alright, sweetheart. As long as you're happy. Don't forget to finish packing. Summer's over and it's time for you to return to your father's, and to school."

Her mother backed out of the room and closed the door. Karen sighed as she picked up her book and placed it back on her bookcase, squeezing it into the only empty space. She then laid down on her bed. Reading had tired her out, and it only took her a few minutes to fall asleep.

* * *

She stared at her laptop screen as five black symbols appeared on a blank background. The screen went completely white and glowed brighter as a small digimon with a round red body, shiny black eyes, a zigzag mouth and ears like bat wings atop its head emerged from her laptop. One of her female colleagues rushed over, gasping in amazement.

"How did you do that?!" her colleague asked.

"I-I don't know, but—" she ran over to a notepad on another tabletop and carefully drew the symbols to the best of her memory.

"Those look like characters from an Asian language," her colleague said. "Actually... I'll ask Noguchi Kenji."

"Who's that?"

"A friend of mine from Japan. He and his wife have gone into the Digital World and—"

"What, is that a digimon?!" a male colleague ran over to her and stared as the red digimon hopped off the laptop and across the lab.

"Yes. Can you take care of it while we contact someone?" her female colleague asked as they turned towards her computer.

She watched as her colleague pulled up her emails and looked through them, finally coming across a chart.

"Noguchi says it's called DigiCode. According to that you wrote... Jyarimon. That must be the name of the digimon."

"I don't understand. Here's Tohma Norstein's latest report. '_After investigating the recent digimon crimes, I've made a very important discovery. It is well known that the key negative emotions can cause some people to give into evil. These negative emotions are anger, desire, gluttony, laziness, envy, greed and pride. And while I was busy studying abnormal psychology with Dr. Stimson, it all became clear to me. All of the digimon that have appeared in our world acted the way they did because they were feeding off the emotional energy of the people around them.'_ He also has these diagrams of the dimensional wall between the Digital World and the Human World, which has degraded significantly. Why is still not certain."

"What does that have to do with anything?" asked another male colleague of hers as he walked over, Jyarimon in his arms.

"I don't understand how a Digital Gate could have opened here, in this lab. There aren't any prevailing negative emotions here. And it wasn't an egg that came through, either. If it was, we would know it needed to be matched with one of our digisouls. But none of us has ever shown to have that ability, and this digimon is small and harmless."

As she spoke, her voice was fading away, as was her sight. Everything became blurry, and she couldn't understand what her colleagues were saying.

* * *

Karen slowly opened her eyes. She remembered her dream with poignant clarity, and laughed at how realistic her dream had been. _'This always happens when I read books I like.'_

Something hopped onto her chest, and she screamed at the top of her lungs as she caught sight of a brown bird-like creature. She bolted out of her bed and stood several feet away. The creature was a round head with enormous, light orange eyes and a beige face, four feathers sticking out from either side. A slim, short black tail ended in a red and white feather. He had some

"I'm Puwamon! Nice to meet you!"

"Wha…?"

"I hatched on top of you. I found this thing on your desk while I was taking a look around, and was hoping you could inform me on what it is."

As Karen approached her bed, she first assumed it must be her phone, which she usually only used to call her mother or father, depending on who she was staying with at the time. Once Karen picked it up, she noticed it looked completely different than her phone. It was purple and perfectly rectangular, had a circular button on the bottom center, and the bright white screen read "iDigivice" in black block letters. There was a button on the top at the left, and three buttons along the left side of the device. There was also a front-facing camera and what looked like a long oval-shaped speaker above the screen. She turned the device around and noticed that a symbol on the back. It appeared to be a bird with its wings spread open. Additionally, there was the camera and the flash on the top left corner.

'_This seems familiar… maybe this was in the book… Oh, yes! Digivice iC… but this one seems to be called something else...'_

Karen turned the phone around once more to further study the screen. The screen had gone dark. She pressed the button that was at the bottom of the device. The screen lit up white. "iDigivice" appeared at the top, and "Karen Bambico" appeared directly under it. At the very center of the screen was a large black fingerprint and a black arrow pointing down to the button at the bottom of the device. "Press the Home button!" flashed right above the arrow. Karen pressed the button again with her right index finger, and watched as the black fingerprint slowly turned purple, starting from the top and moving down to the bottom, as if performing a scan. "Fingerprint accepted!" replaced the previous command above the arrow before the screen changed back to the Home screen with the apps.

There was a weather widget at the top, below the time and battery and such, and below it were six apps, three apps each in two rows. These apps were labeled "Messages", "Calls", "Maps", "Settings", "Calendar", "Camera", "Locator" and "Music". A gray line separated the very last app, at the bottom of the screen. Centered, the profile of a blue, roaring Agumon stood in front of a black "D" in a cyan background. This app was labeled "Digivolution".

"An Agumon!" Karen exclaimed, recognizing it immediately and thinking of Masaru. She sat down on the bed and looked down at Puwamon.

"My name is Karen… it's nice to meet you… partner."

Puwamon had no mouth, but Karen was almost sure it was smiling with how much it was blushing.

"So… I should read that next section on digisoul, then."

When Karen looked back down at the iDigivice, the Home screen had changed to a black background with a light blue pattern something like that of a data board. At the top, a box contained "Puwamon". Below that and to the right, a picture of the creature was displayed. To the left of it, five boxes: "Level: In-Training", "Species: Wind Guardians", "Attacks: Fluffy Feather", "Field: Bird" and "Attribute: Wind". Below this was one final box: "It's able to react to anything around it that moves in an instant and has an incredibly high level of eyesight. But it absolutely hates it when someone tugs its tail carelessly."

'_Good to know...'_

"May I see?" Puwamon asked, looking at the iDigivice and then into Karen's eyes.

Karen turned the iDigivice towards him. In that time, she took note of how different the device was from the Digivice iC that DATS members used. She wondered if this device used digisoul, and if it shared any other functions, like the ability to hold the digimon partner inside of it.

"I'm gonna set this down next to you. I want to look at something."

Karen returned to her bookshelf and pulled out her copy of "Digimon: Research, Theories and Mysteries". She turned to the page about digisoul.

_Digisoul is a phenomenon by which an aura of energy, manifested within a person can invoke digimon evolution. It can be used to charge a digivice and digivolve a digimon to the next level, and its color varies between humans. It emerges from the human partner's hand for the evolution from Rookie to Champion. The Digivice iC allows digimon to digivolve via "Digisoul Charge" to Champion level. In order to be sure that a human is compatible with a digimon, their DNA must be examined and prove to be a proper match. Only then will the human's positive emotions manifest as digisoul—_

"Puwamon digivolve to… Falcomon!"

Suddenly, a completely different creature stood on Karen's bed. He was now an enormous purple bird, with a large head, an orange beak, red feathers around his yellow eyes like a mask, a purple shirt with black netting and a yellow shuriken on either side, wings and large orange talons.

Karen looked to the iDigivice, which now read, "Falcomon", "Level: Rookie", "Species: Wind Guardian", "Attacks: Shuriken, Firecracker Smokescreen, Wind Blade", "Field: Bird" and "Attribute: Wind". Finally, there was: "Because its wings have developed more greatly than its legs, it bears a suitable amount of flying ability. It wears ninja-like clothing and bears ninja-like abilities such as throwing shuriken."

"Whoa… just like Ikuto!"

Karen rushed over and hugged Falcomon, dropping her book on the bed in the process. Falcomon glanced at it and noticed it was open to a page with DigiCode.

"Oh, so you can also read DigiCode?"

Karen looked up into his eyes, her eyes sparkling as she smiled widely.

"We're going to make excellent friends, Falcomon."

* * *

**A/N:** So, this chapter is pretty information heavy, too. That's all I'm gonna say, though. Also, if you didn't notice, I used "digisoul" and "Champion". I say this is to remind anyone who may not have read about it in the previous chapters that I will be using Japanese and English terms however I want, because I can. Also for anyone who didn't catch it, yes, they all have the same birthday! Ooooh, I wonder what that means!

I would also like to say that the "report" is taken from the words of Tohma/Thomas in the very beginning of Episode 12 of Digimon Data Squad/Savers (his words in dub). However, I did write the first three paragraphs of this chapter myself.

Finishing writing this chapter is very exiting for me. All the characters have been introduced, and I can now move on to their first day of school. Now for reviews and the like!

PokeRus: Thank you.

TheallknowingandUnseen: Thank you very much, as usual. I really wanted to make my characters realistic. Digimon (the anime) often highlights the struggles of the digidestined, but only when convenient for digivolution or some kind of plot device. I wanted to go beyond that and make my characters more realistic, from the very beginning. Oh, there is something to possibly predict, as more information is revealed in every chapter. But it's nothing really negative, thus far.

Thanks also to digitamer88 for the follow and favorite on this Story, as well as for the Author follow and favorite. Don't be shy, my friend, and review as well!

And of course, thank you to all my readers!


	8. Chapter VIII: Butterflies Never Lie

**A/N: **Since this is the first chapter after the character introductions, this will be the last time I will remind you all that images of the characters, their digimon and the iDigivices, as well as the Digimon Dictionary, are available on my profile. I hope you all enjoy, and please review!

* * *

**Part I: The Digital Clones **

**Chapter VIII: Butterflies Never Lie**

* * *

_All students who enroll at Aristotle High School select a major prior to their freshman year. Undergraduate electives and sophomore exploration courses enable students to sample most majors. Majors are organized into four broad areas that include Science, Technology & Visual Arts, Architecture & Design, and Performing Arts._

_**Technology & Visual Arts**_

_Automotive Tech_  
_Business Application_  
_Computer Aided Design_  
_Desktop Publishing_  
_Website Development_

_Broadcasting_  
_Studio Arts_  
_TV Production_

_**Performing Arts**_

_Audio Technology_  
_Drama_  
_Musical Theater_  
_Dance_

_**Science Research Tech**_

_AP Biology_  
_AP Chemistry_  
_AP Environmental_  
_AP Physics_

_**Architecture & Design**_

_Academy of Architecture and Contemporary Themes (AACT)_

_Junior and senior year majors are scheduled two periods (80 minutes) a day, five days per week. All majors are project-based with opportunities for portfolio development. Each major is a two year articulated program that culminates with a certificate upon completion. Related internships are often available._

Liam looked up from the packet as a balding man with mostly-white hair, thick glasses, a black and white striped shirt and jeans came up to the podium. The boy looked around at the "Resource Center", which was really just a large room that made up for the fact there was no auditorium. It comfortably sat the 100 juniors in the room. When Liam had first been told by his father that he had to transfer schools in the middle of his high school career, he was both excited and worried. However, looking around at the kids, he was mesmerized, especially at the group next to him. A boy with blue hair, a tank top, shorts and a guitar case was sitting next to a brunette girl in a button-up shirt and tie, a book on American history in her hands, and a rainbow bracelet on one of her wrists. Next to her sat a blonde curly-haired girl with a beautiful dress and a purse, and next to her sat a lanky-looking boy with thick glasses and braces. And all four of them were interacting like best friends. It looked like a scene right out of a perfect TV high school, but it was real. The entire school was like that, and he heard not a single bullying instance had occurred in years. He had a feeling he wouldn't have a problem fitting in here. Standing out was the real challenge for students of this choice school.

The man tapped on the microphone that was attached to the podium, bringing Liam's attention back to the front.

"Hello, 1, 2, 3? Ok, good. Hello everyone, and welcome back to Aristotle High School. Did you all enjoy your summer?"

The room erupted in cheers and applause, while Liam sat still and marveled. Since when did highschoolers have this much energy in the mornings?

"That's good to hear," he said, and the noise quickly died down. "This is going to be a very important and, well, I'll admit, difficult school year. This is your junior year, and colleges and universities will be paying special attention to you. This is the year to join clubs and L.E.A.P.s to bulk up your applications. For our new students, L.E.A.P. stands for," he glanced down at the podium, "Learning through Extended and Accelerated Programs. Now, L.E.A.P.s are basically classes that you get graded for and get credits for, but which take places after school, from 3pm to 5pm. Ah, now, I should let the student council president take over."

Liam watched as a dark-skinned girl with short hair, a green tank top and jean shorts walked up to the podium.

'_Wow, this school is pretty... _lax_ with their clothes policy. Not that I mind.'_

"Welcome back, juniors." The room erupted in cheers once more, shocking Liam. Since when was the student council president so beloved?

'_Well, she _is_ gorgeous.'_

"And a big, warm welcome to all our new students, though there aren't that many of you."

She lead the clapping this time, smiling as she turned her head to glance at everyone in the room.

"My name is Fatmata Kamara and I'm a Drama Major, which is part of the Performing Arts department. This year, I want everyone to get really involved with the bake sales, the International Festival and the other fundraising efforts, 'cause we wanna make this year the best yet! We wanna focus on the junior prom, but we've gotta put away some money for senior prom, too, so we don't have to blow $150 each on tickets. Below $100 is the goal, guys. Anyways, I hope we all have a great year!"

Whooping accompanied the clapping as she moved away, along with a few others Liam guessed were the rest of the student council. They all dressed like they were super popular, and Liam wondered why the would ever want to be part of such a group.

"Well, guys," the man came back, rubbing the back of his neck as he stepped up to the podium "I just realized I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Mr. Dodge, and I'm the school counselor for juniors. If you need any help changing your schedules, you come to my office. But don't forget; you can't ask to have your schedule changed just because…" He didn't seem to know how to word it, and the students were already getting restless, like they knew what he was going to say. "Just because you don't like one of your teachers."

The students booed, but a stern look and tapping on the mic quieted the students down enough for him to say, "This isn't negotiable." Once everything was quiet again, he continued. "However, if it's such a problem that it's interfering with your learning, let me know. Not all teachers have the same teaching style, and maybe even a L.E.A.P. class or tutoring could remedy the situation. Now, on to our anti-bullying policy."

He moved papers around on the podium before frowning and looking back up, "If I read all that, I'll just bore you guys. Listen, Aristotle has a long history of being a safe and civil environment for students. The teachers and other staff understand that teenagers are old enough to know what "mutual respect" means and what it's all about. Students are treated like young, talented professionals to prepare you all for college and the real world. Students understand that Aristotle is a choice school, which means you all applied here knowing what would be expected of you. Any incident of bullying will be dealt with promptly and swiftly, and that includes cheating. Any transgressors will be sent back to their home-school in their city of residence within the county."

He cracked a smile, and everyone clapped and whistled as he did so. "We all expect a lot out of you, but we know you won't let us down, right? Now, on to the last matter: a reminder to returning students and a notice to new students that, as of this school year, Aristotle has no sports programs, and so if you want to compete, you'll have to join your home school's team." Grumbling spread across the Resource Center, and Mr. Dodge seemed to sympathize with them, but continued. "We still supply intramural sports teams, and the Ping Pong Tournament will continue with our students. Well, not that that's out of the way, I hope none of you left your schedules at home, because it's time for third period. Have a nice day and a nice school year. Oh, wait! Dr. Giammarella, do you have any words to add?"

Dr. Giammarella, a man with a full head of white hair and a mustache that made him look very Italian indeed, walked up to the podium as Mr. Dodge stepped away, smiling at the warm welcome he received from the clapping students.

"It's nice to see you all back, and to see the new and eager faces. I'm Dr. Joseph Giammarella, the principal here at Aristotle High School. Where I was, next to the flag, is Frank Gargiulo, our superintendent. He and his team of staff take up residence on our school's second floor."

More clapping, though not as enthusiastic as for the principal, as he waved out at the students.

"Welcome back to another year of high school. As Mr. Dodge already said, junior year is a very important one, so I'd like to remind you all that my office is always open, and if any of you need help with anything, don't be afraid to ask me, or our assistant principal, Ms. Allyson Krone."

A woman standing next to the superintendent waved, bringing on more polite clapping.

"Before you all go to class, one of our students approached me today about performing a single song for you guys, so I asked him to play us three. You all can make your way to fourth period afterward."

The students erupted in cheering once more and the principal smiled as he and the staff cleared the area to stand behind the students. Students came in through the doors carrying speakers, microphones and instruments, setting up with the help of some teachers. The room got louder and louder as the excitement of the students rose, and Liam caught a few scraps of conversation.

"... mond's the hottest guy, in my opinion…"

"... music is great, and the other…"

"...love their band. I saw them perform in the park…"

"... but some new kid named Gabriel on the bass…"

"... too bad that he transferred away, but Gabe's good, too, I've heard…"

"... did you see how Gabe's glaring at Ray?"

Liam watched as three students made their way to the front once the setting up was done. One boy was pretty tall, with a gel-less black mohawk parted to the left side of his face, red converse sneakers on his feet, black dress pants, black blazer and a graphic tee with "GOD SAVE THE PUNK" in crossed-out block letters. As he picked up his guitar, Liam noticed the even taller boy standing a few feet away, strumming away at a bass and constantly glancing toward the guitar player and glaring. In this way, Liam identified who Ray and who Gabe was. Gabe was wearing worn-out jeans a big red sweater. As he looked up and past his blonde hair, glaring at everyone in the crows, Liam wondered if Gabe was just one of those guys who always looked angry. The drummer, a blonde boy in bright red pants, a black polo shirt and a grey bow tie. This boy was constantly standing from the throne, towering over the drum kit and waving at someone in the crowd. Liam turned his attention back to Gabe and Ray. They seemed to be glancing at each other, as well as eager to start playing. Raymond walked up to the microphone on a stand near him.

"I'm Raymond Calubayan. We've got Gabriel Vock on bass and my brother Connor on drums. We're gonna be performing one original song and two covers, all rock. This is the original song, called Butterflies Never Lie."

The drummer counted out of the rhythm, and the band began to play. The song was heavier on drums and bass than guitar, and after several bars, Ray began to sing.

.

Butterflies never lie

They've got nothing to hide

And they'll stay by her side

Forever

.

Butterflies never lie

The tiny creatures fly

Into her heart and I'm

Stuck out here

.

The guitar got heavier and the drummer moved his attention from the hi-hat to the ride cymbal as the song immediately shifted into the chorus, though the drummer got plenty of use out of the crash symbol as well, accentuating certain words with a hard hit. Liam noticed then that the drummer had transformed from a goofy-looking kid into a serious rocker. The bass guitarist moved his hands effortlessly, though he had a far-off look to him.

.

I should wrap myself around

A golden cocoon of lies

Never look into her eyes

Don't care if I drowned

.

And as I slowly gained ground

This ugly caterpillar flies

Into the night but dies

It's a beautiful letdown

.

As the song returned to the verses, Liam saw Raymond sneak a glance at Gabriel, and Liam couldn't tell if he looked pained because the song's lyrics called for it or because of the bassist.

.

Butterflies always lie

They've got a lot to hide

And in the blink of an eye

Gone forever

.

It's ugly past, the honest truth

It'll never tell you

The transformation from its youth

The ugly proof

.

With a drum fill, the song returned to the chorus, and Gabriel turned to Ray, his body moving fluidly back and forth with the tempo and eyes closed. Ray seemed to resist a smile as he stepped back front the mic and the band continued past the chorus and into the instrumental section, with heavier drums and guitar. It quieted down until the room was silent, and Ray rushed to the mic for the bridge.

.

But I'll never tell her lies

Cross my heart and hope she dies

But I'll never tell her lies

Cross my heart and hope she dies

.

The drums played a fill as the last line of the bridge led straight into the chorus, which repeated two more times. The music stopped abruptly at the last, "dies", and the drummer's light hitting of the ride cymbal sounded like rain as Ray sang "It's a beautiful letdown".

Some of the juniors jumped out of their chairs as everyone clapped and hollered and screamed Ray's and Connor's names. Gabriel opened his eyes and turned to his left, away from the crowd that seemed to be ignoring him.

The next two songs ended with the same enthusiasm form the crowd, and Gabriel was the first out of the Resource Center as the principal dismissed everyone to their fourth period classes.

* * *

**A/N:** I wrote that song up very quickly, so yeah, it's not the best xD Additionally, if it wasn't obvious, I play the drums, so it's easier for me to write about that. Also, I don't know a whole lot of terms, cause I'm mostly self-taught except for trumpet

Welcome to Aristotle High School, an exact copy of my school in everything but name! It's a county school, which means anyone that lives within the county or can successfully lie about it can go to this high school. Provided, of course, that their application is accepted. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I'm sorry if it wasn't super exciting or interesting.

So, I got to thinking, and I want to reveal the heights of all the digidestined! From tallest to shortest: Gabriel & Raymond - 177 cm (5'10"); Connor - 175 cm (5'9"); Liam - 168 cm (5'6"); Cassandra - 162 cm (5'4"); Fatmata & Karen - 169 cm (5'3"); Luana - 154cm (5'1").

On to the review!

TheallknowingandUnseen: Thank you for always reviewing so promptly! I'm glad you found a character you can relate to. And thank you; the language thing has always seemed like a very important issue to me. You have me gushing with all your praise and positive energy!

And of course, thank you to all my readers!


	9. Chapter IX: Making Friends

**A/N: **So, the strangest thing happened. For some reason "Chapter IX" was placed between "Chapter IV" and "Chapter V" by both Libre Office and Google Docs. The only way to get it placed after "Chapter VIII" is by writing nine as "VIIII", which is of course not the way Roman numerals work. However, "Chapter X" is placed just fine. What's going on? Well, never mind the tiny things that annoy me. I hope you guys enjoy!

* * *

**Part I: The Digital Clones **

**Chapter IX: Making Friends**

* * *

Cassandra grabbed Karen's hand as soon as the principal dismissed everyone and led her out of the crowded Resource Center, which required some tactical maneuvering and slight pushing.

"Phew! We made it out alive!" Cassandra turned to look at Karen, who just nodded.

The girls made their way down the hallways and towards the office of Mr. Gonzales, the attendance officer.

"First order of business: lockers. Can you believe that we have half lockers this year instead of the tall ones?!"

Karen shrugged.

"I sure didn't ask the school to accept 150 freshmen! At least it's not like the sophomore class of 200 students. But I hear it'll be 150 now every year. We'll be the last class of 100."

Karen's mind wandered to her book on digimon as Cassandra continued unabated.

"It's all 'cause of that stupid building they wanna build. Like, don't they realize it's never gonna happen? County's been trying to fund-raise for that for years now. When my older sister Valencia, who's twenty years old now, was a freshman, they said the building would be done before she graduated. Look how long it's been! But they wanna try and force the state to fund the project by flooding the school with too many students! Then Aristotle and Socrates can merge into one super-big county-wide high school… in a building in the middle of a highway, with no way out except by the buses! Senior privilege will cease to exist, and the stores around here will make way less money. I bet that's why the well-off living around here won't donate for it."

"Actually," Karen interjected, surprising Cassandra. She had extended her arm, and Cassandra quickly realized Karen had stopped her from walking straight into the guidance office. She pulled Cassandra out of the doorway. "I think it has nothing to do with that. You already know why sports are gone, right?"

"Because the mayors of the cities in the county hate Aristotle. Since we're a choice school, and get more funding and have better teachers, we always get all the best athletes as students."

"Exactly. That's why all the students that come here have to play in their home town for their home team. However, I don't think the mayors are satisfied with that. All the best athletes are still applying to this school, despite the fact that it's more inconvenient to play for another school and race to the practices. So, the mayors must have somehow pressure Aristotle into accepting more students, which means lowering the standards for applying. Lower standard, more students, less talent, bigger classroom sizes, and soon, the school becomes something almost identical to a public high school. It becomes pointless to go to Aristotle. And finally, all the athletes go to their home schools, and the transformation into a vocational high school instead of a regular one—that's also a choice school—is complete. No more picking a major your junior year. It's freshman year now."

"Maybe you're right," Cassandra said with a sigh. She lead the way into the attendance office, picking up two locks and examining them, mentally mapping out where in the school they were and how close they'd be to their classes. "You're really smart, you know that, Karen?"

A smattering of deep red spread across Karen's face as incredible speed as she flinched at the compliment. "No I'm not! You say this all the time and I always remind you: I'm just like everyone else."

"Oh, come on!" Cassandra said, handing a lock to Karen and leading her out of the office and down the hallway. "You get near-perfect grades, and you're a Science major to boot. And this is the year you can take your first two AP classes for your major, right?"

"A lot of Science major students have good grades. And yes, I'll be taking AP Biology with Dr. S and AP Chemistry with Dr. L, though I opted for self-study since he's a horrible teacher and there's no way I'd pass the AP exa—"

"Hey, you shouldn't just stand in the middle of the hallway like that."

Karen had noticed that the boy had been standing there since they got out of the attendance office, but even as they approached, it didn't occur to her to stop and help him. He was a brunette boy with glasses and a scar across one eye, wearing a dark turquoise button-up shirt. He seemed to be only 5'6" (168 cm), which was short for a boy, in her opinion. He was only about two inches (six centimeters) taller than Cassandra, and about three inches (nine centimeters) taller than Karen.

"Are you lost? Do you need a map?" Karen asked, walking over to stand in front of him.

"Uh… I can't understand my schedule," he said.

Karen leaned over, pointing at the different columns as she spoke about them.

"See, this says that first period, Monday through Friday, for the whole school year, you have US History II with Mr. Jefferson in room 211. That's how you read it. Oh! And you have Health... 3rd marking, instead of gym. Oh, you'll have that with me. Looks like that's it for similarities, though."

"Let's compare schedules!" Cassandra said, now standing next to Karen and snatching it from his hands before he could respond. "Oooh, how lucky! You're in Broadcasting, and I'm in Business. That means we're both part of the Technology and Visual Arts department, so we have most classes together! History, English and Chemistry, plus your first free of the day—"

"Free? What's a free?"

"A free period, when you don't have any classes to go to," Cassandra began. "You can basically spend it wherever you want, including the Mall Area. That's that place with the wide open hallway-like space with tables hugging the wall. All the offices are on one side and the cafeteria is on the other. It leads down to the main entrance, and past that is another hallway. See, the cafeteria's open from the beginning of 4th period to the end of 8th period. You can go in and buy your food 'til then, and eat on the other side of the caf, the one with the tables and chairs and stuff. Or, you can eat in the Mall Area. Almost all students have at least one free every day from 4th to 8th, but if you don't, you can eat in a classroom around that time. With your teacher's permission, of course. If none will say yes, ask Mr. Dodge and he'll talk to them."

The boy's head was swimming with all of this information, and Karen seemed to notice, because she came over pointed at the area around those periods.

"Just make sure to eat around this time, and you'll be fine. The friends you make here will most likely correspond with your frees instead of with your classes, but a lot of times, it'll be both."

"Like with me," Cassandra continued. "We have all our frees together, too, I see. The only class we don't have in common is Math. But see how the 5th period spot is empty? Before 4th period ends, you'll be asked to go to Mr. Greco's room to take a math test. It'll decide what math class you get. Most likely, you'll end up in Algebra II, like most juniors, but some of us are taking Pre-Calc, which mostly seniors take. Well, if they want to. You're only required to take three years of math: Algebra I, Geometry, and Algebra II. Karen and I, in our middle schools, took Algebra I in 8th grade."

"Ah, I didn't," her said. He felt disappointed, because if he had every class with this girl, he'd never get lost again.

"Oh wait!" he said. "Aren't we supposed to be in 4th period right now? In, ah… oh, it's a free period. What about you, Karen?"

"I have Pre-Calculus. But it's ok; it's the first day. No one takes attendance the first day. Oh, what's your name?"

"Liam Moore."

"My name is Karen Bambico. Nice to meet you."

She extended her right hand for a shake, and he hesitated for a minute before he took it with his own with a firm grip. 'Must be left handed,' she thought. She noticed then that his hand felt peculiar, though she couldn't put her finger on why. He shoved his hands in his pocket, papers quickly placed under his arm, before she could steal a glance at them, however, and the motion seemed to fluid and natural to arouse suspicion.

"I'm Cassandra Acosta." she said with a perfect Hispanic accent. "Karen here calls me Cassy, but she's the only one allowed to do that, ok?"

There was a bit of an edge to her voice in that question, so Liam nodded dutifully.

"Let's go to the Mall Area!" Cassandra said, then hesitated for a moment. Pretending to be upbeat and cheerful was taking a toll on her, though earlier in the day than it usually did. "We can all hang out there and get to know each other."

* * *

Connor was in a particularly difficult situation. All he had carried into the room so far was two cymbals with their stands, and he had a lot of drum kit left in the Resource Center. Unfortunately, Raymond and Gabriel had rushed in ahead of him, and he knew better than to leave two strong personalities alone in a room like that. Especially considering what they had begun talking about.

"Long time no see, Raymond, Connor."

Ray gripped his guitar tighter before placing in its case and zipping the case closed. He carried it past the door and into the recording room before coming back out into Mr. Shepard's room. It was a long, carpeted room with two rows of Apple/Macintosh workstation MIDI systems all the way at the back, in front of the white board mounted on the wall, was where the drum kit usually rest, and that's where Connor was standing. Gabriel and Raymond stood in front of Mr. Shephard's desk, across the room from Connor, who watched nervously.

"Hello, Gabe."

"That might be a little too familiar, don't you think, Raymond?"

"You didn't seem to have a problem with it an hour ago, when I asked you to play for us."

Truthfully, despite the fact that he had known he'd see the twins, Gabriel had been taken aback when he saw them, and even more so when they approached him about their problem. Improvising wasn't difficult for him, and so one time from the top was all it took for him to get the hang of the original song. He had to wing the covers, but that went well, too.

"Doesn't matter. I don't let people who reject me call me by a nickname."

"Reject… wow, Gabe, really? You know it was my dad who closed our doors to being a foster home any longer. He was always away and mom couldn't handle—"

"They adopted you two."

"Because it was just two. And because we refused to be separated, and after five years, they had grown fond of us."

"And not me."

"Ugh. It's your own fault you haven't been adopted, anyway. Yeah, don't think I haven't heard. You're in a group home, right? No one forced you to become a criminal."

"I'm not a criminal!"

"What do you call someone who's been to juvy several times, huh? All to feed your alcoholism."

"You two weren't adopted for all those years, even though there was nothing wrong with you two, right?"

"You're an only child. I'm sure someone would have adopted you eventually. Or at least you'd be better off after you turn eighteen and the system spits you out."

Gabriel didn't know how to respond to this, and became increasingly uncomfortable as the silence continued to linger and Raymond continued to stare into his eyes.

"And anyway," Raymond continued, his gaze softening some, "there's nothing wrong with you. You just have to get over your addiction, make it into a good college with some good grades this year, and get your life together."

Raymond frowned slightly as he realized that was advice he himself wasn't taking, and the packet of cigarettes in his back pocket felt heavier all of a sudden. He mentally shook the thought away, deciding it was better to not let Gabriel respond to that. Before he could speak, however, Gabriel caught Raymond's gaze again and spoke.

"The last time I saw you two, you actually looked like identical twins."

This was his chance. Connor ran across the room and grabbed Gabriel's shoulders, jumping up like he was going to throw himself onto the boy's back, but landed back on the ground and quickly made his way in front of Gabriel to give the surprised boy a big smile.

"Puberty hit and Raymond got an extra inch [two centimeters] on me."

"Yeah, and the fact that you're still blonde."

"RayRay's still blonde. Under all the black hair dye."

"Don't call me that!" Raymond barked, a slight blush coloring his face as Gabriel and Connor laughed.

* * *

**A/N:** I really enjoyed writing this chapter. Now, for the reviews!

TheallknowingandUnseen: Prompt reviews are like prompt updates: appreciated but not be expected xD My school's pretty good yeah, but... well, you'll find out as you read! My major is Business. However, my freshmen and sophomore years, I was an Audio Tech Major. Also, I fixed the typo; thanks for letting me know. And as always, thanks for the praise!

Thank you to all of my readers for you interest!


	10. Chapter X: The Beginning of Something

**A/N: **This chapter was difficult to name. Not much else to say. Hope you all enjoy. Please review!

* * *

**Part I: The Digital Clones **

**Chapter X: The Beginning of Something**

* * *

"Hello, my name is Dr. Syed Abbasi. Welcome to my class. Business Application of Technology is equivalent to a college-level course. It provides complete coverage of the Internet and Computing Core and is approved by Certiport Inc. In this course, the following themes are addressed: Computing Fundamentals, Key Applications and Living Online. In addition, emphasis will be put on Business Mathematics and Basic Accounting Terminology to enhance students' knowledge and marketability. Current computing issues will be analyzed, employing real-world case studies using state-of-the-art computer equipment. Students will also learn integration of applications. Students will acquire the essential tools to work in a network environment including word processing, electronic spreadsheet design, database management, PowerPoint presentation and extensive use of the Internet. This course enriches students' knowledge and skills through group and individual project-based learning. This is a demanding college-level course for students who are considering careers in computer science, computer technology, computer engineering or related technology fields. Students will have the opportunity to develop a portfolio, reflective of an individual student's ability, for potential college review."

Cassandra stared at the blackboard as the bearded and bespectacled man spoke, were he had written some information about himself.

Name: Syed Abbasi

Born: Lahore, Pakistan

Teaching Since: 1998

Bachelors Degree: Computer Science

Masters Degree: Computer Science

Masters Degree: Administration

Doctorate Degree: Information Systems

Department: Technology & Visual Arts

Sometimes, Cassandra became overwhelmed when she thought about just how many of the teachers at her school had doctorates. It also overwhelmed her to think there were only two other students in the class: a junior she didn't know and a senior who couldn't fit her major class in during 1st and 2nd period when all the other seniors took it.

"Why don't you guys introduce yourselves?" Cassandra was surprised that his voice also sounded that monotone when he wasn't reading, even though she should've been used to it by now. Only a bit of emotion got through in his tone. "Let's start with our new friend, then."

Next to Cassandra, on the first computer, right next to the printer and the door, sat the junior Cassandra didn't know. As she stood up, Cassandra realized she was much shorter than the average junior; Cassandra estimated 5'1" (154cm) at most. She had smooth skin, blue eyes, and bright pink hair in a sideways ponytail. She wore the varsity jacket the dance majors had ordered for themselves after sports were canceled, saying that they were the last athletes left in the school. If Cassandra remembered correctly, the R stood for the name the junior dance majors had given their group. She also wore a deep blue shirt with a red ribbon and an almost-too-short light brown skirt, which made Cassandra wonder if it was some kind of uniform. Her demeanor seemed awfully serious and closed-off, though there was no malice in her eyes.

"My name is Luana Hatazawa."

"...Can you tell us a little about yourself?" Cassandra asked.

Luana turned around and looked down at the girl, who was playing around on the office chair she sat on.

"I'm not a dance major anymore because I hope to take over for my parents when I grow up. They own several hospitals in this country and in Japan. I will double major in Business and Science next year so that I may take AP Biology and AP Chemistry."

Luana sat back down on her office chair with the type of finality that told all present she would speak no further.

"Cassandra, why don't you introduce yourself next?" Dr. Abbasi asked as he shuffled papers around on his podium.

"Sure," she said as she stood up, towering over Luana. "My name is Cassandra Taylor. I've been a Business major since freshman year. I was afraid I'd be all alone this year and I was considering switching into Audio Tech. Dr. Abbasi convince me not to, though, since he told me Rena would be here. Rena, why don't you introduce yourself next?"

Rena was seated at the back wall on the computer that was closest to the girls. he turned her chair around to face them.

"I'm Rena Chen," she said with a noticeable Chinese accent. "I'm a senior and president of the Business Club, which you'll be joining, Luana. Because of my packed schedule, I can't take classes with the rest of the seniors, so I'm gonna be here with you guys for the school year."

"Very good, everyone. Now, I've prepared a very straight-forward assignment for you guys that should be fun."

"Mmhmm," Cassandra muttered under her breath playfully. Luana flinched at what she took to be a sign of disrespect for the teacher.

"I expect you are all a least familiar with the most basic functions of a word processor, and so I prepared a list of business-and-computer-related terms I would like you to define, as well as a few questions. Feel free to use a search engine for reference. I recommended the use of a website called businessdiction—"

The fire alarm cut him off, and the students shot to their feet. Cassandra took the time to push in her chair in while Luana left immediately, followed by Rena. Cassandra walked through the doorway and looked back at Dr. Abbasi, who lifted his keys up as a sign that he was going to lock the door and she should continue without him. Cassandra walked quickly and zig-zagged her way through the crowd and caught up to her classmates as they arrived at the stairs. Rena hugged the two as they were making their way down.

"Stay together, girls," she said with a smile, towering a full head above Cassandra. Luana frowned but did not push her away and Cassandra laughed.

The smiles and loud chatter died away as the students made their way outside into the empty bus parking lot, where it was replaced by frightened yelling. Cassandra pushed through the crowd, prepared to run far, far away if a fight had broken out between students. Instead, she saw a black dinosaur-like digimon bearing its teeth and holding up its claws, constantly swiveling his head to look at the students that were backing or running away from it. Cassandra noticed it didn't have the mark of a clone. She decided to risk pulling out her iDigivice, even though she was almost certain of what digimon this was.

"BlackAgumon", "Level: Rookie", "Species: Nightmare Soldier", "Attacks: Pepper Breath, Spitfire Blast, Dramon Claw", "Field: Dark" and "Attribute: Darkness". And lastly: "A digimon whose wild instincts have been awakened due to the digivolution to a virus kind. It's not only fearless, but rather ferocious."

Cassandra wished Coronamon could be with her instead of hiding in her closet with a basket full of food and the seven Harry Potter books.

"Pepper Breath!" The digimon opened his mouth and spewed forth a ball of blue flame, which only narrowly missed some students. It repeated this several times until smoke rose from its nostrils, and it lifted its claws up again as if daring anyone to attack it, growling ferociously.

A white blur smashed into BlackAgumon, sending it sprawling backwards witha powerful kick. The white digimon landed softly on all fours before standing up on its two hind legs. It was a large white cat with big ears and black claws that extended from yellow gloves with red striped. On the tips of its ears and its tail were three purple tufts, as well as a small ring.

Cassandra looked to her iDigivice, which now read, "Gatomon", "Level: Champion", "Species: Virus Buster", "Attacks: Cat's Eye, Starlight, Sharp Claw", "Field: Holy" and "Attribute: Light". Finally, there was: "A Digimon which looks like a small cat. The holy ring attached to its tail is the mark of a Holy Digimon. But, if it's taken, it loses power."

A human ran up behind Gatomon, wearing a bright yellow polo shirt and black pants, as well as a lab coat. His black hair stuck out in various places, and he had bags under his eyes. Cassandra had seen him on the television the other day, when she saw that news clip on DATS Inc. She had also seen him standing before a table in the Mall Area, right next to the military recruiters and the representatives of a bank. They showed up seemingly randomly at the school.

"Don't let it charge up its Spitfire Blast. It can't use its Pepper Breath when its nostrils are smoking. And it's a Dark digimon, so when you're in a good position, use Starlight. Get it, Gatomon!"

"Sharp Claw!"

Gatomon rushed up to it with claws at the ready, and BlackAgumon barely had time to counter.

"Dramon Claw!"

The two digimon tried again and again to slash at each other, though their claws continuously blocked each other's attacks. Finally, after a particularly power swipe sent BlackAgumon's arms backwards, Gatomon hugged the the digimon close and stared into its eyes.

"Cat's Eye."

Visible, pink rings were emitted by Gatomon's eyes and BlackAgumon stopped struggling. Gatomon jumped backwards and put her paws together at the wrists.

"Starlight!"

A beam of light shot out of his paws and hit BlackAgumon directly, turning it into what appeared to be data, which soon dissipated. All was quiet as Cassandra released the breath she hadn't realized she was holding in, and then the parking lot erupted in cheers. The man grinned and waved at the students as the Gatomon ran back to him, turning into something like a beige puppy with an enormous head. He tried to project his voice above the noise.

"I'm sorry for all the commotion. The BlackAgumon must have found its way into the school and set off the fire alarm. It seems you're all safe, though, which is great. Oh, we're always looking for new members. Paid jobs, people! Inquire at our table inside. Now that the alarms are off, you should all make your way back inside."

As the students began to shuffle around and do as he suggested, Cassandra shoved her iDigivice into her pocket quickly and made her way back upstairs. Luana and Rena were far from her thoughts as she replayed the events of the battle in her head, as well as the worlds of the man in the lab coat. Should she gave approached him about Coronamon? Was she now obligated to bring him to DATS Inc.'s nearly headquarters? She didn't know, but the first door at the top of the stairs was the dance studio, and after it was the business classroom, where Dr, Abbasi was already unlocking the door.

'_I have a feeling this is the beginning of something.'_

* * *

**A/N:**I love to write fight scenes, though I'd love you opinions on whether it was any good. On to the reviews!

TheallknowingandUnseen: I hope the character interaction was still great, even though there wasn't as much of it. And yeah, straight exposition can be boring. Gabe isn't based off of any one particular person, though his situation isn't uncommon or unique. Yeah, the twins sure do come off that way, though don't forget that we've only just begun.

Thank you to all my readers for you continued support.


	11. Chapter XI: The First Mission

**A/N: **First real long chapter, I think. A lot happens in this chapter, though it's easy to not realize it. I hope you all enjoy! Don't be shy; read and review!

* * *

**Part I: The Digital Clones**

**Chapter XI: The First Mission**

* * *

"Would you believe you're the first students to approach us?"

They weren't quite sure how it happened, but Raymond, Connor and Gabriel had all come together all at the same time halfway down the hallway after the final bell had rung.

This, the first full day of school, was usually the day in which clubs and L.E.A.P.s opened their doors to be observed by prospective new members. However, DATS Inc. hadn't left, and the three boys had figured they would after the incident in the bus parking lot. As an AACT major, Connor had his major class—as well as almost all his subject classes—in the basement of the school, as so he was sent to the teacher's parking lot. However, since Raymond and Gabriel had Audio Technology together, they headed down a different set of stairs than the girls but also ended up in the school bus parking lot.

Luana, who had witnessed it all first-hand as well, arrived at the DATS Inc. table soon after the boys. Karen, however, went with the rest of the Science majors to the teacher's parking lot. However, BlackAgumon, followed soon after by the man and the Gatomon, had burst through the doors the students had only just exited through and many students had caught a glimpse.

All five of the students smiled awkwardly at the man in the lab coat and the Gatomon sitting on the table.

"My name is Dr. Hans Mesmer. I see that you children are showing an interest in our organization. Have you ever heard of the famous DATS in Japan?"

"Of course I have!" Karen blurted out, before covering her mouth with both hands, face redder by the second.

Dr. Mesmer frowned at her before he continued.

"As you may… _already_ know... DATS was founded to protect humans from digimon that were crossing into the Human World from the Digital World. Of course, the organization in Japan now only conducts research and is no longer a police-like task force, since the Digital Barrier has been repaired. Before I continue, however, I'd like to ask you all a question."

He swept his eyes over the five children present, pausing at each for only a second, before landing on Karen.

"Have any of you ever had an… unusual encounter with a digimon?"

Raymond and Connor immediately glanced between themselves, but no one responded.

"Other than in the parking lot before, of course. Perhaps, with a digimon that showed signs of being… different than our clones? Maybe even… a digiegg?"

They all hesitated but, as Gatomon stood on the table on all fours and walked over to rub her cheek against Dr. Mesmer's arm, they all slowly nodded.

"Well, I'd like to extend an invitation to you five lucky boys and girls. How would you like to learn more about digimon, about how to properly care for one and fight alongside one, and get to help keep the people of this area safe from wild digimon from the Digital World?"

The teens stood there, stunned by the sudden offer. But how could any of them turn it down? They suddenly had digimon to take care of, and here was an expert petting his very own digimon and proposing to teach them how to properly care for their new friends. They simply couldn't refuse. When he insisted they all make their way to DATS Inc's main office in their city, all they could do was rush home to their parents or personal maids and ask or beg for permission. Eventually, they found their ways to sneak their digimon past their mother, father or social workers and met up once again at DATS Inc.

* * *

"Mmm, I hate getting blood drawn!" Connor said with a pout.

"They did it in the least painful way possible with that… butterfly needle, is it?" Raymond responded.

"Yes," said Karen simply. She couldn't resist putting her knowledge to use.

Gabriel and Luana trailed behind those three, quietly taking in their surroundings. From the outside, DATS Inc. looked almost identical to the one in Japan, though only Karen could make that observation. Inside, it seemed to be made of hallways lined with doors. They were shuffled into another elevator as Dr. Mesmer continued to explain how their DNA would be examined and their compatibility with their digimon would be confirmed, and how their iDigivices were being examined by their advanced computers and specialized researchers. In the meantime, they found their way into a classroom, which Dr. Mesmer told them had been set up just for them. He taught them about levels, species, attributes and fields, and how the last three were connected. He taught them about the Digital Dive, digisoul and eventually succeeded in getting them all to summon tiny traces of it.

Dr. Mesmer seemed fascinated by the fact that their digisoul was not the same color as their iDigivices, except for Karen. Although Raymond had a black iDigivice, his digisoul was blue. Gabriel's iDigivice was grey, but his digisoul was yellow. Connor's iDigivice was green, and his digisoul was red. Luana had a yellow iDigivice, but had pink digisoul. Karen had both a purple iDigivice and purple digisoul, though her digisoul was a slightly lighter shade. The results came in quickly for their iDigivices, and Dr. Mesmer returned to the classroom all smiles. He showed them the features of them, including the Settings screen that most of them had glanced at already. Lastly, a woman walked in with the results of their DNA examinations and their digimon.

"Well, the test results came in positive for all of you… except for Miss Bambico."

Karen stared at him in shock as he handed them all back their iDigivices, as well as DATS full-body uniforms for the others matching their iDigivice color.

"It would be best if we sent Falcomon back to the Digital World."

* * *

Karen looked out at the park, panting heavily. From her perch on a thick branch, she could see the entire area. When she glanced up, she could see Falcomon, tired from flying her all the way up the various trees, searching for a thick and high enough branch. They were both sure the newest DATS Inc. members would be chasing after them as their first mission. Karen chose to pass the time with the marble notebook she had brought with her to DATS Inc., looking over her notes.

_**Digimon**__: digital life forms with artificial intelligence; residents of the Digital World; some are feral and driven by instinct alone_

_**Fields**__: Holy; Dragon; Aquan; Bird; Dark; Beast; Machine; Insect-Plant_

_**Species**__: Virus Busters; Dragon's Roar; Savers of the Deep Sea; Wind Guardians; Nightmare Soldiers; Nature Spirits; Metal Empire; Jungle Troopers _

_**Attributes**__: Light; Fire; Water; Wind; Darkness; Earth; Steel; Thunder_

_**Levels**__: In-Training; Rookie; Champion; Ultimate; Mega; Burst Mode_

_**Digisoul**__: human emotion controlled with the power of will; manifests physically as an aura on or around the user's body; "Digisoul Charge!" [Champion]; "Digisoul Full Charge!" [Ultimate]; "Digisoul Charge! Overdrive!" [Mega]; "Charge! Digisoul Burst!" [Burst Mode]_

**Digivolution**:_ digimon's appearance changes, and it becomes significantly stronger than before; resultant form of the digimon almost always has a different name than the previous; however, the digimon's consciousness remains unchanged_

Karen looked up as a voice spoke from the tree across hers.

"So you're the digimon I've been looking for. Falcomon."

* * *

"I feel like a babysitter."

Gabriel stared down at his iDigivice's screen, which had the Map app open. Eight dots flashed, almost overlapping each other. The human's dots matched their digisoul, and their digimon's dots matched their iDigivices. He looked up at Raymond as he spoke. He somehow looked older in his black and white DATS uniform. Tsukaimon sat on his head, his ears perked up in an attempted to zone in on their target. Gabriel glanced over at Puroromon, who was flying right next to his head. Why was only his partner still an In-Training level digimon?

"Hey, we're getting paid, right? An hourly salary twice the state minimum wage. Most minors never get this much. A lot of adults don't make this much. It's a job, and we'll be able to help our mom," Connor said, nodding to himself several times as he spoke.

He seemed completely comfortable in his green and white uniform, as well as with DoKunemon wrapped around the back of his neck, her head resting on his right shoulder. Raymond looked at him in surprise. That might have been the most responsible thing he had even heard his twin say, though Connor put a damper on it by grinning with his eyes closed as soon as Raymond made eye contact with him.

"We're wasting time," Luana said, arms crossed. "Connor's right in that we're getting paid to complete a specific task, and we're just standing around talking about it."

With her bright yellow uniform contrasting starkly with her light pink hair and pale skin, she was an interesting sight to see. Leormon and she looked at each other and Leormon smiled broadly, causing Luana to smile in response instinctively before turning to frown at Gabriel.

"I'm not picking anything up on the map save for us. We might as well keep moving."

"But in what direction?" Connor asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" Luana looked down at her own digivice. "Our target is Shamanmon. A Beast digimon, and a dweller of the forest. We go into the park, and quick; we're losing daylight."

Luana ran ahead and the boys followed, Leormon quickly overtaking them all and trying to find the target's scent. As the group slowed to a jog and then to a brisk walk, they almost crossed the entire park.

"Split up." Raymond ordered. The others followed, as Dr. Mesmer had named him leader and the others had no reason to argue.

It was Tsukaimon—once she decided to fly off of Ray's head—that spotted them in the trees. Shamanmon stood on a tree, talking to someone across from him. He was green and humanoid, with muscular arms and legs. His blue clothes, his strange club and especially his green mohawk made him a unique-looking digimon. Tsukaimon's eyes next fell on Karen and Falcomon. Karen was busy writing away in her marble notebook as Shamanmon spoke.

Raymond pulled out his digivice and was about to press the Map app when the screen changed. "Shamanmon", "Level: Rookie", "Species: Nature Spirits", "Attacks: Shaman Hammer, Mad Twist, Boulder Throw", "Field: Beast" and "Attribute: Earth". Finally, there was: "It does a strange dance when it does its ceremonies. It is said it becomes highly tensioned when it hears the voice of God, and it foretells the future like a prophet."

"Master, I've found him! Poison Bubble!"

Raymond looked up at and the trio in the trees looked down. Shamanmon leaped off his tree as a large bubble popped on the branch, coating it in purple poison, eroding it completely. Shamanmon swung his club at Tsukaimon on his way down, but missed and landed shakily on his feet.

"Trapping me is useless," Shamanmon said, his eyes bearing down on Raymond.

"Tsukaimon!"

"Master! Poison Bubble!"

"Mad Twist!"

Shamanmon shot several purple energy rings from his wooden club that met the bubble and caused it to pop before it could reach him.

"I don't want to fight you! You humans can't use me! I explained this to—"

"Breeze Blaster!"

Tsukaimon inflated her body and spit out dark clouds that engulfed Shamanmon. Breathing some in causing him to cough, and his coughs became more ragged as he breathed in more of the smoke.

"Wind Blade!"

A gust of wind cut through the smoke and Shamanmon took a deep breath of fresh air. Falcomon landed next to him, with Karen on his back.

"He told me his story. DATS Inc. kidnapped him from the Digital World so he could predict the future for them, like how stocks would do. But Shamanmon can't do that. He's been avoiding you and the rest of the DATS members by predicting where your digimon would be, but he can't predict the future of humans."

"I don't care. Our mission is to return him to DATS headquarters. If they can't use him, he'll be cloned or brought back to the Digital World, or one and then the other—"

"Clones can't produce attacks or use their abilities. They want Shamanmon himself. To… to enslave him!"

"Whatever the case, both Shamanmon and Falcomon must be returned to DATS," Raymond said.

"You say 'returned' as if DATS owns him. He's _my_ partner, alright? He's no Raptor One."

"Raptor One?" Connor asked.

Karen grinned. "I happen to know _just_ a little bit more than all of you."

"Whatever. We're wasting time and it's getting dark. Tsukaimon, attack!"

"Yes master! Poison Bubble!"

"Mad Twist!"

"No, different attack!"

"Of course!" Tsukaimon flew at Shamanmon, using the explosion of the two attacks as cover.

"Bat Flutter!"

Tsukaimon slapped Shamanmon several times in the face in rapid succession with her wings, leaving several scratches on his face before his club swung around and hit Tsukaimon. She flew down a few yards before touching down on pavement, skidding a few yards before hitting a tree.

"He's stronger than he looks," Gabriel said.

"He has a huge club and huge muscles!" Luana countered.

"Tsukaimon! Are you alright?"

Gabriel turned to face him. Raymond's face was calm, but his voice broke slightly, revealing some emotion. He was worried for his partner, which seemed unusual to Gabriel.

"Yes master!" Tsukaimon said, ignoring the pain from the scratches and scrapes as she stood on her paws.

Shamanmon raised his hands above his head, and a medium-sized boulder appeared in his hands,

"Boulder Throw!"

Tsukaimon dodged it but it hit Puroromon instead, and the boulder sent her flying against a tree. Crushed between the two, Puroromon fell a second after the boulder and landed on top of it. She tried to lift her wings, but the piecing pain was too much for her.

"Puroromon!"

Gabriel rushed to her side and picked her up in his arms, wincing as he examined the scratches on her.

"You'll be ok," he whispered, desperately holding on to that hope. Suddenly, Puroromon began to glow with a silver light, and Gabriel closed his eyes, still holding his digimon tightly and bringing his iDigivice up to his face.

"Tsuakimon! Put all you've got into it!"

"Poison Bubble!"

"Mad Twist!"

"Puroromon digivolve to… FanBeemon!"

"FanBeemon". "Level: Rookie", "Species: Metal Empire", "Attacks: Gear Stinger, 88 Call, Venom Stinger", "Field: Machine" and "Attribute: Steel". "An Insect Digimon which belongs to the mysterious clandestine air hive, "Royal Base". Although its daily life differs from that of other Insectoid Digimon, it is a strong, dedicated worker due to its personality being so cheerful."

"Posion Bubble!"

One attack negated the other, but the second poisonous bubble was too fast, coating Shamanmon in the sticky purple poison. He cried out in pain as he dissolved into data. Raymond raised his iDigivice towards Shamanmon. He pressed and held the button on the bottom left side of the device. The Camera app opened, and Shamanmon's data was absorbed into his iDigivice. A picture appeared of him on the screen.

"Firecracker Smokescreen!"

Raymond looked up in time to see as several bamboo cylinders hit the ground and exploded, enveloping the area in black smoke. When it cleared, Karen and Falcomon were gone.

* * *

**A/N:** So, this new chapter took a while to appear, huh? But here it is, in all it's glory and in all it's probably many mistakes! This chapter's actually really information heavy, so take a minute to think about everything. Some foreshadowing went into this, too. Reviews time!

TheallknowingandUnseen: Action scenes can be tricky. One of your favorites was stared, huh? I wonder if you mean BlackAgumon or Gatomon. As always, thank you for your support! And thank you for letting me know about that. I edited it, of course. I should get this beta read, now that I think about it.

And thank you to all of my readers!


	12. Chapter XII: Midhomeroom Morning's Dream

**A/N: **So, Digimon has a long history of both cleverly and poorly done real-world references being included in the title of episodes, where they be form books, movies, songs, or just common phrases in English. It really kicked off with season 2.

From **Digimon Adventure 02**, there's "The Good, the Bad, and the Digi", "20,000 Digi-Leagues Under the Sea", "Run Yolei Run", "A Very Digi-Christmas"; from **Digimon Tamers**, there's "O Partner, Where Art Thou?", "It Came from the Other Side", "Much Ado About Musyamon", "Brave New Digital World", "Lionheart", "No Mon is an Island", "Homeward Bound", "His Kingdom for a Horse" and "Such Sweet Sorrow"; and from **Digimon Frontier, **there's "Kumamon Baby, Light My Fire", "A Molehill Out of a Mountain", "Island of Misfit Boys", "Can't Keep a Grumblemon Down", "A Hunka Hunka BurningGreymon", "Fear and Loathing in Los Arboles", "The Swiss Family Digimon", "From Dawn to Duskmon", "Darkest Before Duskmon", "O, Brother, Who Art Thou?", "Ne'er the Twins Shall Meet", "Ice Ice Baby", "The Man in the Moon is You", "The Bully Pulpit", "Glean Eggs and Scram". Digimon Data Squad didn't really have any; they disappointed me by breaking the pattern, to be honest.

I thought I'd try my hand at that, even if only for one chapter, and made a poorly done reference to Shakespeare's play _A Midsummer Night's Dream_.

* * *

**Part I: The Digital Clones**

**Chapter XII: A Midhomeroom Morning's Dream**

* * *

'_I must face him alone.'_

That's the only thought left in the digimon's mind.

The building she was in had started to collapse, and she knew it was only a matter of time before she got caught and trapped in a pile of debris.

She had seen the digimon being buried alive by huge slabs of stones and debris.

She had heard the screams of agony and pain surrounding her.

She had felt the despair of the digimon in the town as everything came crashing down.

She could even taste the suffocating smell of ash.

'_This is all his doing.'_

The thought of him kept her moving.

Once she reached the top of the stairs, she was suddenly hit by a mucky hot gust of air. The blackened air was choking and unbearable, as bellows of grey gases and pyroclastic clouds gushed in her direction. She spread her wings and took flight, immediately heading for the volcano. But that also meant she was heading straight for the source of the deadly smoke. The clouds of fire and rocks were coming at an astonishingly fast speed, and by looking down at the digimon running for their lives and being consumed by the smoke, she realized that it was impossible to outrun it. Not only was this a time-sensitive battle, but probably one she couldn't win. At least not if the interpretation of 'winning' included saving the digimons' lives.

She stopped for a moment, trying to catch her breath amongst all the smoke and ash. Where was Daemon? She knew that the digimon was looking for her specifically, as she had been created for this battle. It was fate. No, it was predestined.

She continued flying until she was flying above the volcano, above the smoke that continuously billowed forth. She tried to mentally prepare herself for the torture that she would endure, but how could she? She took a deep breath, and raised her left arm above her head.

"Spiral Raven Claw!"

She thrust her arm downward, and with her claw leading the way, she spun like a tornado and cut through the smoke on her descent down into the volcano. It was much more difficult to see where she was going or what she was doing while spinning, but being surrounded by pitch-black smoke that would both burn her eyes and nearly suffocate her wouldn't have been any more useful. She gritted her teeth as the cloaked figure came into view.

When she stopped spinning, she continued flapping her wings in an attempt to keep as much smoke away from her body as possible. Flying above the slowly rising magma was the cloaked figure. He seemed to grin as he spotted her, but it was hard to see through all the smoke.

"Evil Inferno!"

The flames came at her too fast to dodge, even with her incredible speed. She screamed out in pain as she was hit, her body burning rapidly as she gasped weakly underneath the heat. She couldn't keep herself in the air, and she plunged into the magma.

She couldn't breathe. She was suddenly cold, so cold, her body overwhelmed and unable to process just how hot she was. But she was stronger than this. If she could only struggle to the surface and make it back into the air, she could defeat him once and for—

* * *

"Karen! Karen! Wake up! Karen!" a panicked voice was trying to wake the girl up. Cassandra had seen Karen's pained and disturbed expression and had been trying to wake her up to spare her of her nightmare. However, no matter how she tried to shake or pinch her, Karen just wouldn't wake up, consumed by the nightmare as a soft whimper escaped from her lips, making Cassandra's heart ache.

Suddenly, Karen jerked up and screamed, making the girl who was trying to wake her up flinch. Her eyes were wild with fear as she breathed in heavily and shakily.

Karen then shuddered violently as tears started to stream down her face. '_Oh god, the dream…'_

She could almost smell the smell of the ash from the dream. It felt so real. Her heart was pounding hard against her chest as the memory of her dream came back to haunt her again.

'_The burning sensation… But I had to keep trying…'_

"Karen? What's wrong?!" Cassandra asked worriedly, feeling alarmed.

"Ca-Cassandra…" Karen's voice broke as she started to cry.

Karen couldn't help it as her tears started to burst out due to the horrifying dream she had. '_No. It wasn't.' _Somehow she knew that it wasn't a dream. Dreams weren't so vivid. _'It was a memory,'_ she thought, but somehow, that didn't seem right, either. How can you feel and smell so vividly while remembering something? It was more like she was… reliving it.

Cassandra stared at Karen, at loss. She had no idea what to do. She wasn't good with tears and this was the first time she saw Karen like this.

Hesitantly but gently, Cassandra scooted closer to Karen in her seat and pulled the sobbing girl into an embrace, patting her shaking back reassuringly. "It's okay, Karen. It's just a... daydream."

Upon hearing Cassandra's words of consolation, she cried harder.

"Karen…" Cassandra murmured softly.

Minutes later, Karen 's crying died down slowly as she sniffed. She looked up and noticed that the entire classroom was staring at them. They were in homeroom, and Karen had been talking to Cassandra when she was suddenly… pulled into the past?

"I-I'm sorry, Cassandra… for troubling you like that…"

"It's okay, Karen. That's what best friends are for, right?" Cassandra smiled warmly at the other girl.

Seeing the bright smile on Cassandra's face, Karen's heart quickened and she blushed. _'I have a best friend?'_

Cassandra released Karen from her hold. Karen now felt like sharing everything with Cassandra. However, as the bell rang, the two girls were forced to stand up, grab their bags and push their way through the crowded hallways to their first period class of history, on the second floor.

Karen stared at Cassandra the entire way, a shiver running through her spine twice on their journey. She simply couldn't get the images and sensations out of her mind. Cassandra looked back at her when they were halfway to their destination and grabbed the girl's hand, hoping to calm her nerves some.

Karen's heartbeat quickened even more. _'I'm holding hands with my best friend! I never thought this would happen to me! I have a best friend and she's holding my hand to comfort me and lead the way to class!'_

Cassandra pulled them up the stairs, down the hallways and into the classroom, and faced their teacher. He was a tall white man with a buzz cut, a plaid shirt and jeans. He looked like an intimidating drill sergeant, but Cassandra didn't even hesitate.

"Mr. Jefferson, Karen and I are going to the restroom! Girl business!"

He stared at them, baffled, as Cassandra turned them around and led the way out of the classroom.

"Ah—don't be too long! And warn me if you end up needing to go to the nurse!"

Cassandra led them down the hallway and turned right, pulling them past the water fountains and past the door to the girl's restroom. Once inside, she walked to the back of the room and into the handicap stall. She locked the door, finally letting go of Karen's hand in the process. She turned to look her in the eye.

"You can tell me all about your nightmare, or we can sit down on our bags or something and rest for a while. Drink some water," she said, pulling a bottle of water of her backpack's netted holder, "and just generally calm ourselves down. Cause… I gotta admit… I got pretty freaked out by how long you were checked out there."

Karen leaned against the green wall of the stall, breathing heavily and trying to gather her thoughts.

"I can't explain it. One moment, we were having a conversation. The next thing I knew, I was pulled into… I don't quite know what it was. You said daydream, but… it seemed so much more real than that. I thought it could be something like a memory, but not only was I never a digimon, but it was also way too realistic."

"Wait, digimon? You… um… I don't know what to call your experience. Just tell me what happened."

"Well, I was in a building, and it was collapsing. I ran onto the roof, and I could clearly see that a volcano was exploding. There was smoke and ash everywhere, and lots of digimon were dying. Now that I think about it… let's see, there were dragon digimon, and dark digimon… I think that was it. Anyways, they were dying by the dozens due to the ash clouds. There wasn't even any lava. And I… I flew into the volcano to meet some kind of adversary. He attacked me with fire, and I dropped into the magma. It was… it was tortuously hot. I wasn't burned to death… by a miracle, it must have been… and you woke me up while I was still struggling to get out and defeat him."

Cassandra wasn't quite sure how to respond to that. Mostly because she had had a similar dream herself the night she met Coronamon. She figured she had just dreamed about being a digimon because of what had happened to her during the day. It was a common occurrence; she had dreamt about flying dozens of times, and had dreams with her family's Agumon clone in them before. But now that Karen had dreamt about that, too…

"Karen, do you know what digimon you were in your… experience?"

Karen looked at her in surprise. She hadn't been sure what reaction to expect from Cassandra, but this surely wasn't it.

"Ah… the attack 'Spiral Raven Claw'... I think Ravemon. The Mega level form of Falcomon."

It didn't occur to her until she said it out loud, but now she was acutely aware of the iDigivice in her jeans pocket. Karen gasped as Cassandra pulled a red iDigivice out of her own pocket.

"Do you know what digimon the attack 'Sol Blaster' belongs to?"

"Uh… no, I'm not familiar with it?"

"What's the Mega level form of Coronamon?"

"Coronamon… I've never heard of that digimon."

"Karen… are you partnered with a Falcomon?"

Karen stared at Cassandra's iDigivice, and pictured the iDigivices of the newest members of DATS Inc. Could she trust Cassandra with such a secret? After all, they were hunting her and Falcomon down, so if Cassandra told DATS about him, Falcomon would certainly be taken away from her. They already knew that she went to the same school as them, and DATS Inc. knew her home address. It was only a matter of time before they chased her down. Therefore, Cassandra turning on her wouldn't hurt her so much, especially since they would probably want to take Coronamon away, too, right? Karen couldn't really answer that question, but if Cassandra could become her ally…

"Yes, I am. And you're partnered with a Coronamon."

"Ah— you're way too smart for me, Karen," she said with a laugh.

Karen couldn't help but smile back. She pulled her iDigivice out and looked down at the screen. Thanks to DATS Inc., she was now familiar with all of the features of the digivice, including the Camera app. Cassandra watched as Karen unlocked her phone. She pressed the Camera app on the Home Screen, and a white screen opened. There were two squares above a third; the top left square was labeled "Snap a Standard Photo" and the image within the square was of a black and white camera; the top right square was labeled "Absorb Real World Material as Data" and contained the silhouettes of an Agumon, a bag and a species symbol; the bottom square was labeled "Gallery" and contained three black squares with white borders around them. Karen pressed "Gallery", and an image of Falcomon was the only one contained inside the folder. She pressed it, and the screen changed to a portrait of Falcomon from the shoulders up.

He moved, smiling up at Karen, and smiled. "Has school ended for the day? How early, compared to yesterday."

"Woah. Is Falcomon… inside your iDigivice?"

Karen looked up at Cassandra, who looked up from Karen's iDigivice. "Yes. You can read all about it if you go to Settings and scroll down to About iDigivice."She looked back down at her iDigivice. "No, Falcomon. I want you… to meet my _best friend_."

Cassandra grinned as she heard that. Even though she had said it, she had been afraid Karen would brush it off. She was sure Karen had plenty of Science Major friends that were just as smart as her and had so much more in common with her than Cassandra did. It was an incredibly warm feeling to know she had a best friend now. She wondered if, now, there was something only they had in common.

"Hello, best friend of Karen's. I am her partner, Falcomon. Charmed to make your acquaintance."

"Yp. Name's Cassandra. Your, ah, partner likes to… likes to call me Cassy, but only she can do that, alright! You call me Cassandra, you hear?"

Falcomon laughed, bringing a wing up to cover his face as he did so. Karen giggled along, and Cassandra huffed in indignation.

"You are certainly quite charming. Karen, is this your mate?"

"What!? No! She just told you we're best friends! She's like… my sister!" Cassandra said, waving her hands in front of her.

"You're quite perceptive, though, Falcomon. Cassandra does indeed—"

"I don't think your digimon's interested in my sexual orientation. I don't think they even understand that. I mean, digimon don't mate. How does he even know about that?"

"He asked me a lot of questions," Karen said simply with a shrug.

Cassandra's faint blush began to fade as she took a deep breath and continued. "Falcomon, you seem like a knowledgeable guy. What's Coronamon's Mega level form?"

"I believe that would be Apollomon. It is a Holy digimon with immense firepower."

"Does it wear a cloak?" Karen asked.

"If it were to try, the cloak would surely burn up. Otherwise, it would be quite uncomfortable over the armor it wears."

"Well, Apollomon was not the enemy in my dream, then."

"But I dreamt I was Apollomon, I think," Cassandra said. "It was the night I received Coronamon from my iDigivice. As an egg. He hatched as… mmm… Sunmon, I think it was, and… 'digivolved', I think it is."

Karen chuckled at Cassandra's lack of confidence using those terms. Just then, an announcement could be heard on the loud speakers.

"Um, attention... everyone. All students and staff are to stay away from the Media Center... please. A digimon is causing an... electrical disturbance all over the school building. It's just been locked inside by a member of DATS Inc. Please give us time to sort this all out and return things to normal... nor-mal-cy," the voice sounded out. "Night Claw, assemble at the Media Center."

Karen frowned and grabbed Cassandra's hand, pulling her out of the restroom, past the water fountains and down the stairs to the first floor.

"What are you doing?!"

"We're going to the Media Center."

"But they just said not to!"

"Yeah, that was Connor's voice. Night Claw is the name we decided on for our group at DATS Inc. Except I'm not part of their group. They're after me, actually."

"You're not making any sense!"

"Oh, just follow me! ..._best friend_."

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**A/N:** I don't want the name of this chapter to fool anyone; it neither confirms nor denies whether Karen's experience was a dream or not. It's just a not-so-clever reference.

Also, let me just say that I'm sure what Karen and Cassandra experienced is not a unique experience. I personally find it awkward to decide if I can start calling someone a _best_ friend. And I get excited when someone else calls me their best friend first!

And now, back to your regularly scheduled review replies!

kari: Yes, the way that they receive their digimon is very similar to each other. That was done on purpose. Many times, an author will use repetition to call attention to the small differences that may slip past the reader otherwise. Additionally, I thought it was a lot more important to focus on what came before they received their digimon, because the most important thing was to reveal things about the human characters. And the most important thing about the way they received their digimon was the tiny differences in how it happens. Like, for example, what happens when the eggs hatch. And what happens with the humans right before the digimon digivolve to Rookie, which gives an important but very subtle clue to something that will happen in the future. Thank you for taking the time to read and review, though!

Thank you kudaman for the follow and favorite for this story!

And thank you to all of my readers!


	13. Chapter XIII: The Media Center Incident

**A/N: **For anyone who didn't catch it, Night Claw is the name of one of the organizations that protects the Digital World in Digimon World Dawn and Dusk. Yupp, I'm not just borrowing things from the five seasons, but also from those games! If I didn't tell you right now, after reading Part I, I'm sure you fans of the game would all figure out that I played Dawn. And technically, there are also Digimon Next references, though I never read it. Anyways, I hope you all enjoy! Please review and let me know what you think!

* * *

**Part I: The Digital Clones**

**Chapter XIII: The Media Center Incident**

* * *

Karen paused before they turned into the Mall Area. She brought her iDigivice up to her face.

"What's wrong, Karen?"

Karen smiled to herself. _'Asking such a question means she's already resigned herself to following me.'_ Karen opened the Messages app, and a list of contacts appeared.

"I explored this device thoroughly. The contacts aren't listed by name, but by Field. I know that Night Claw consists of Dark, Beast, Machine and Insect-Plant. You…" Karen let go of Cassandra's right hand and grabbed her left, lifting it up so she could retrieve Cassandra's iDigivice. Upon inspecting the back, she noticed there was an intricate black and white cross on it. "... are Holy. I need to send a message to Dragon and Aquan."

'_There's a digimon in the Media Center. Only we, with the help our digimon partners, can save it. Night Claw is'_ Karen hesitated, unsure if she could say this, _'evil'_ She didn't really think that, but they certainly didn't seem to be doing the right thing either, _'and will hurt that digimon. Please help us out.'_

She read it over before pressing Send. Karen took off with Cassandra again, not even blinking as several people yelled at them. She stopped in front of the door to the Media Center, where Connor and Fatmata stood. She had her iDigivice in her hand and looked very angry.

"I need to finish my essay! It's due next period!"

"I'm sorry! I'm really sorry! But I can't let you pass."

Connor and Karen made eye contact, and the two held their iDigivice up, pressing the button on the right side of their devices.

"DoKunemon, realize!"

"Falcomon, realize!"

The digimon announced their names as they emerged from their iDigivices, and Cassandra and Fatmata watched on in awe. Falcomon stared down at the much smaller digimon, but neither backed down.

"Capture Net!"

"Shuriken!"

DoKunamon spit out thread, which was promptly torn apart by the throwing stars. Both digimon prepared for another attack, but Falcomon was faster.

"Firecracker Smokescreen!"

He dropped several bamboo cylinders and blinded DoKunemon.

"Wind Blade!"

The wind produced by Falcomon's wings cut through the smoke, and also sent DoKunemon flying back, and she hit Connor square in the gut.

"Falcomon, the door!"

Falcomon took flight and tackled the door, landing on top of it as it dropped to the floor.

"Cassandra!"

Karen ran forward after Falcomon, Cassandra following her obediently. Fatmata looked down at her iDigivice, where Crabmon had opened the proper app and folders on his own, grinning up at her.

"Well, follow them in!"

She was too confused and curious to do anything but follow the two girls inside, down the short hallway and into the Media Center.

"—just had to be absent! She's already turning out to be useless!"

"Shut up, Ray! We need to act fast!"

The chairs and tables inside were upturned and spread out across the room. Computers covered three sides of the room, and Elecmon sat right at the center, on the side of the room opposite the upturned desk. The three staff members that attended to the room were nowhere to be found.

Elecmon was a red digimon with blue stripes and eyes, as well as nine feather-like tails. Electricity flowed from its tails into every computer in the room, connecting them all. Raymond and Gabriel were crouched down in front of their digimon, who had electricity crackling around their body every few seconds. They were clearly paralyzed. Falcomon lay on the floor as well, and Karen screamed as she ran towards him.

Elecmon grinned at the newcomers. "I won't work as a power source for you humans!"

Fatmata looked down at her iDigivice. "Elecmon", "Level: Rookie", "Species: Nature Spirits", "Attacks: Super Thunder Strike, Nine Tails, Lightning Knife", "Field: Beast" and "Attribute: Earth". Finally, there was: "It's very curious and lively, and inherited its prank-loving personality from Tsunomon. It possesses nine tails, and during battle, it fans out its tails like the plumage of a peacock to intimidate its opponent."

Cassandra turned to look at Fatmata.

"What are you doing in here? Are you a member of Night Claw, too?"

"What? No, I—"

"Poison Stringer!"

Connor ran past the two girls, stopping next to Karen and Falcomon. DoKunemon had arrived before him, slipping by unnoticed, and attacking Elecmon at point-blank range with a single purple stinger coated in poison fired from her tail. It hit Elecmon square on the forehead and bounced off the thick layer of electricity surrounding his body.

"You can't defeat me! I demand to be sent back to Chip Forest! I demand to be sent back to the Digital World! Lightning Knife!"

Three flows of electricity, jaggedly-shaped as a knife, struck DoKunemon, who collapsed on the floor, writhing as electricity continued to crackle all over her body. Connor ran forward and crouched down but didn't dare touch her.

"What's going on, Fatmata? When can I come out?" came Crabmon's voice, loud and clear.

"Is that an iDigivice in your hand?" Karen asked, turning around, her arms still hugging Falcomon around his shoulders.

"Um, yes, it is. What of it?" she asked defensively.

"Well, we need to stop this rampaging Elecmon."

"I guess. I do need to finish my work before the period ends."

Karen looked at her, confused. _'You mean, "Of course we need to stop it before it wrecks the whole school with its electrical powers."?' _she thought, quickly growing annoyed and glaring at the newcomer.

"Yes, exactly," Cassandra said, deciding it was best to go along with her. "If you have a digimon in that iDigivice, you should bring it out and defeat Elecmon. So you can do your work."

"There's an enemy?! I'll protect you, Fatmata!"

"Hold up, Crabmon. We didn't sign up to be the saviors of the school."

"Yeah, but the threat is real anyways," Cassandra said. "And he'll attack us humans next!"

"Fine, fine, you're making too much sense," Fatmata relented, lifting up her iDigivice, "You're all just lucky I figured out how to use this thing on my own. Crabmon, realize!"

Crabmon announced his presence as his data streamed out of the device and solidified into him. He raised his claws up, snapping them threateningly in the direction of Elecmon. The electric beast startled slightly, and Crabmon grinned.

"Super Thunder Strike!"

With tails raised, Elecmon shot several lightning bolts at Crabmon.

"Hard Shell!"

The lightning bolts hit Crabmon one after another, but each time, Crabmon's shell glowed a soft blue and he remained unaffected. He immediately went into the offensive.

"Water Pressure!"

A small torrent of water shot forth from Crabmon's mouth, hitting Elecmon full-force.

The teens and their partners watched on in awe as the computers throughout the room exploded. Once the dark and foul-smelling smoke had subsided, Elecmon was lying on his back on the ground, severe burns covering a large portion of his body. Pieces of computer screen had already hit many of the humans, leaving scratch marks or minor burns, and many other pieces littered the floor. Elecmon's groans filled the room as the humans shared glances, none of them sure what to do.

Karen finally stood up and opened the Camera app on her phone, going to "Absorb Real World Material as Data". It appeared as a normal camera screen, but once Karen pressed to take a picture, Elecmon burst into data, which was absorbed by the iDigivice. The computer on the staff's desk had been left untouched by Elecmon, and the screen lit up. A pure white screen was replaced by an image of what appeared to be all trees. Elecmon's data poured out of Karen's iDigivice and into the computer. He appeared on the screen, sitting on a branch and giving a thumbs-up and grinning as he stared at Karen. The screen went dark once more.

"That Elecmon belonged to DATS Inc.!"

The three girls turned to look at Raymond, who nearly shook with rage. Gabriel slowly picked up Fanbeemon as she opened her eyes. Tsukaimon got up on two feet, glaring at Crabmon.

"Excuse me," Karen said, "but look at all the destruction DATS Inc. has caused!"

"That was that crab's fault!"

"And I suppose we got in the way of your passed-out digimon stopping him!"

Raymond growled deep in his throat, causing the others to gasp in alarm, and Tsukaimon took flight and glared at each of them. Raymond knew better than to try and get his injured digimon into a fight, and so he took off running. Gabe and Connor startled but followed, carrying their digimon in their arms.

"You all better quit getting in our way, or you'll regret it!" Raymond called out behind him.

Karen and Cassandra stared at each other, unsure of what to do or say. Cassandra still couldn't believe she had been dragged into it that mess, and Karen was trying to figure out what to do about Fatmata, as well as where Aquan had been, that they never showed up.

As if on cue, Liam ran down the hallways and looked around the destroyed room, SnowAgumon hot on his heels.

"Um… we should probably leave…"

"Now there's no way I'll get my essay done!"

* * *

**A/N:** Wow, that ending was bad. Like, really bad. Sorry for the very late update, my lovely readers. Things haven't exactly been going great for me, but I did my best. Thank you all for your support. Hopefully the next update will come sooner. If any of you would like to beta read for me, I'd be delighted. Anyways, as always, here's to the reviews:

kudaman: Sorry to let you down by taking so long to update. And thank you: I often come across characters that are copies of of the actual characters, and it always bothers me. I strive to make my OCs feel like real people.

And a big thank you to all of my readers.


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